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THE    RIGHT    REV. 


SAMUEL   WILBERFORCE,   D.D. 


VOL.  in. 


LONDON   :     PRINTED     BY 

SPOTTISWOODE     AND     CO.,     NEW-STREET     SQUARE 

AND     PARLIAMENT     STREET 


LIFE 

OF 

THE     RIGHT     REVEREND 

SAMUEL  WILBERFORCE,  D.D. 

LORD   BISHOP   OF   OXFORD   AND   AFTERWARDS 
OF  WINCHESTER 

WITH    SELECTIONS    FROM 

HIS   DIARIES  AND   CORRESPONDENCE 


BY   HIS   SON 

REGINALD   G.  WILBERFORCE 


IN    THREE    VOLUMES— VOL.    III. 


WITH    A    PORTRAIT    BY    G.    RICHMOND,    R.A. 


LONDON 
JOHN     MURRAY,    ALBEMARLE     STREET 

1882 

All    rights    reserved 


3X  ^ 


PRE  FA  CE. 

This,  the  concluding  volume  of  Bishop  Wilberforce's 
'  Life,'  carries  the  reader  into  a  well-defined  period. 
The  first  volume  described  the  preparation  for  his 
work ;  the  second  the  period  of  struggle  ;  while  this, 
the  last,  is  an  attenipt  to  pourtray  him  as  he  was 
during  the  last  ten  years  of  his  life — '  the  undisputed 
leader  among  the  English  Bishops.'  The  effort  in 
Convocation  to  obtain  a  Synodical  condemnation  of 
*  Essays  and  Reviews  ' — a  result  obtained  at  first  only 
by  the  casting  vote  of  the  venerable  Archbishop — 
shows  how  divided  were  the  counsels  of  the  Episcopate, 
and  the  man,  therefore,  who  could  and  did  reconcile 
these  conflicting  counsels  into  unanimity,  stepped,  by 
so  doing,  into  the  position  of  actual,  though  not  of 
nominal,  leader.  Again,  in  the  troubles  concerning 
Dr.  Colenso,  it  was  Bishop  Wilberforce  who  penned 
the  address  signed  by  forty-one  Bishops.  In  the  Pan- 
Anglican  Synod  the  pastoral  letter  which  was  agreed 
upon  was  his  work.  The  first  Report  of  the  Ritual 
Commission  was  drawn  up  by  him ;  and  the  skill  with 
which  he  averted  restrictive  legislation  in  1867,  when 
nearly  the  whole  Bench  of  Bishops  were  in  favour  of 
a  measure  of  the  kind,  explains  still  more  clearly  the 
ascendancy  which  was  conceded  to  him  by  his  Episcopal 
brethren.     When  it  is  further  remembered  that,  in  the 


vi  PREFACE. 

year  after  he  was  called  away,  the  Bishops  did  intro- 
duce the  Public  Worship  Regulation  Act — a  measure 
the  evils  of  which  they  did  not  foresee — it  will  be  felt 
how  much  the  Church  had  been  indebted  to  his  fore- 
sight and  courage. 

But  a  greater  proof  of  Bishop  Wilberforce's  power 
and  influence  is  to  be  found  in  the  letters  which  were 
written  to  him,  by  persons  of  all  conditions,  asking 
his  advice.  These  letters  cannot  appear  in  his  '  Life,' 
for  two  reasons.  They  are  so  numerous  that  they 
would  of  themselves  fill  volumes  ;  and  the  answers 
were  not  kept.  American  Bishops,  Colonial  Bishops, 
Missionary  Bishops,  all  wrote  to  him  for  counsel. 
Whenever  and  wherever  there  was  trouble,  in  all  parts 
of  the  world,  it  was  Bishop  Wilberforce  who  was 
applied  to.  Testimony  to  his  never-failing  readiness 
to  help  is  afforded  by  letters  from  many  clergy  who 
had  been  ordained  by  the  Bishop,  who  had  found  their 
work  in  distant  lands,  and  who  write  to  thank  him  for 
his  fatherly  assistance. 

In  Parliament  his  natural  powers  as  an  orator,  and 
his  practised  skill  in  debate,  forced  him  into  the  very 
front  rank.  All  Church  legislation  was  entrusted  to 
him,  and  he  it  was  who  bore  the  brunt  of  all  attacks 
upon  the  Church,  whether  by  attempted  legislation  or 
by  oratorical  invective.  A  striking  side,  indeed,  of  the 
Bishop's  life  has  not  been  dwelt  upon  in  these  volumes  : 
his  social  accomplishments  were  too  various  and  ver- 
satile to  admit  of  being  described  by  any  word- 
painting.  One  who  knew  the  Bishop  well  said,  with 
reference  to  his  conversational   powers  :  '  It  was  not 


PREFACE. 


VII 


the  constantly  saying  clever  and  brilliant  things  which 
constituted  the  charm  of  the  Bishop's  manner  ;  it  was 
the  ever-varying,  continuous,  changing  flow  of  con- 
versation which  made  him  so  delightful  a  companion. 
One  might  liken  it  best  to  the  dvTjpLdfxov  yeXaa-fJia  of 
the  waves  of  the  ocean.' 

Thus  my  labour  of  love  is  over,  and  it  only  remains 
for  me  to  again  thank  those  who  have  so  kindly  helped 
me.  In  addition  to  the  names  already  mentioned  in 
the  Preface  to  Volume  II.,  who  have  again  helped  me, 
I  have  to  acknowledge  the  kind  assistance  of  the  Dean 
of  Lichfield.  I  ought  to  add  that  these  pages  were  all 
in  print  before  the  deaths  of  the  Dean  of  Windsor  and 
the  Rev.  Dr.  Pusey,  both  of  whom  are  more  than  once 
mentioned. 

For  the  convenience  of  the  reader  a  list  of  the 
Bishops  during  the  years  embraced  by  this  volume 
is  subjoined. 


R.  G.  WILBERFORCE. 


Lavington  :  October  1882. 


Archbishop  of 

Canterbury 
York  . 

Bishop  of 

London 

Durham 

Winchester 

Bangor 

Bath  and  Wells 


/John  Bird  Sumner    . 
J  Charles  Thomas  Longley . 
(.Archibald  Campbell  Tait . 
j  Charles  Thomas  Longley  . 
(William  Thomson     . 

(Archibald  Campbell  Tait . 
(John  Jackson    . 
J  Hon.  Henry  Montagu  Villiers 
(Charles  Baring . 
(Charles  Richard  Sumner  . 
( Samuel  Wilberforce  . 
James  Colciuhoun  Campbell 
J  Robert  J.  Eden  (Lord  Auckland) 
(Lord  Arthur  Hervey 


Appointed 
1848 
1862 
1868 
i860 
1862 

1856 
1868 
1856 
1861 
J  827 
1869 
1859 
1854 
1869 


Vlll 


PREFACE. 


Bishop 

Appointed 

Carlisle 

( Hon.  Samuel  Waldegrave 

i860 

( Harvey  Goodwin 

1869 

Chester 

(John  Graham    .... 

1848 

[  William  Jacobson      . 

1865 

Chichester . 

( Ashhurst  Turner  Gilbert  . 

1842 

(.  Richard  Durnford     . 

1870 

Ely     . 

( Thomas  Turton 

1845 

(Edward  Harold  Browne    . 

1864 

Exeter 

Henry  Philpotts 
Frederick  Temple     . 

1830 

1869 

Gloucester    a 

id       I  William  Thomson     . 

1861 

Bristol     , 

.      (Charles  John  Ellicott 

1863 

Hereford     . 

J  Renn  Dickson  Hampden 

I  James  Atlay       .... 

1848 
1868 

Lichfield    . 

(John  Lonsdale  .... 
(George  Augustus  Selwyn  . 

1843 
1867 

Lincoln 

J  John  Jackson     .... 
\  Christopher  Wordsworth  . 

1853 

1868 

Llandaff     . 

Alfred  Ollivant  .... 

1849 

(James  Prince  Lee     . 

1848 

Manchester 

(James  Eraser     .... 

1870 

Norwich     . 

Hon.  John  Thomas  Pelham     . 

1857 

Oxford 

Samuel  Wilberforce  . 
(James  Fielder  Mackarness 

1845 

1869 

/  George  Davys  .... 

1839 

Peterboro'  . 

'  Francis  Jeune    .... 

1864 

i  William  Connor  Magee    . 

1868 

Ripon 

Robert  Bickersteth    . 

1856 

Rochester  . 

(Joseph  Cotton  Wigram     . 
(Thomas  Legh  Claughton  . 

i860 
1867 

St.  Asaph  . 

J  Thomas  Vowler  Short 
(Joshua  Hughes 

1846 
1870 

St.  David's 

Connop  Thirlwall 

1840 

Salisbury    . 

(Walter  Kerr  Hamilton 
(George  Moberly 

1854 

1869 

Worcester  . 

( Henry  Pepys     .... 

1 841 

■      1  Henry  Philpott .... 

1861 

Sodor  and  Mi 

m  .        Hon.  Horatio  Powys 

1854 

CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  I. 

(1861.) 

I'AGE 

'  Essays  and  Reviews  ' — Article  in  '  Quarterly  Review  ' — Discussion 
of  Bishops — Answer  to  Addresses-  Letter  to  Bishop  of  Llandaff 
— Renewed  Discussion — Committee  appointed — Synodical  Con- 
demnation— The  Bishop  and  the  Roughs — Suffragan  Bishops — 
The  Diary — Wedding  Day — Death  of  Mrs.  Sargent — Mr.  Glad- 
stone and  Oxford  University — Death  of  Sir  James  Graham — 
Tour  in  Ireland — Conversations — Opinion  on  Protestant  Mission — 
Visit  to  Dublin — The  Diary — Missionary  Bishops — Consecration 
of  Mr.  Staley — Death  of  the  Prince  Consort — Speech  at  Reading 
- — Letter  to  Sir  C.  Anderson  on  Funeral  of  Prince         .         .         .       i 


CHAPTER   IL 

(1862.) 

Illness  on  Confirmation  Tour — Meeting  of  Bishops — Speech  on 
Lord  Ebury's  Bill — Bishops  in  Heathen  Countries — The  Bishop 
and  the  Lord  Chancellor— Sermon  in  Westminster  Abbey — 
Retreat  at  Cuddesdon — Letters  about  Lay  Readers — Weekly 
Communion^ — Death  of  Archbishop  Sumner — The  New  Appoint- 
ments— Addresses  at  Sheffield  and  Wargrave — The  Confraternity 
of  the  Blessed  Sacrament — Death  of  the  Principal  of  Cuddesdon 
College 46 

CHAPTER  in. 

(1863.) 

Mr.  Hadfield's  Bill — Correspondence  with  Mr.  Gladstone- — Prince  of 
Wales's  Marriage — The  Bishop  on  Dispensations — University 
Sermons— Letter  to  Mr.  Gordon— ^Speech  on  Cram — Charge  of 
1 863^Advice  on  Preaching — Letter  to  Mr.  Gordon      .        .         .76 


X  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER   IV. 

(1861-66.) 

PAGE 

Correspondence  on  the  Supreme  Court  of  Appeal  with  Mr.  Gladstone 
— Letter  to  Lord  Westbury — Discussion  on  Supreme  Court  by 
the  Bishops — Bishop  Colenso's  First  Book — Meeting  of  Bishops 
— Letter  to  Bishop  Colenso — Second  Meeting  of  Bishops — Reso- 
lution to  Inhibit — Third  Meeting  of  Bishops — Joint  Letter  to 
Bishop  Colenso — Bishop  Gray's  Plan  of  Action — Draft  Form  of 
Excommunication — Letter  to  the  Bishop  of  Capetown — Letter  on 
the  Judgment  —  Letter  on  Excommunication  —  Mr.  Keble's 
Opinion 102 


CHAPTER   V. 

(1864.) 

Journal  of  an  American  Clergyman — Bampton  Mission — Conti- 
nental Confirmations — Visit  to  Sandringham — Fall  from  Horse — 
Debate  on  '  Essays  and  Reviews ' — The  Bishop  and  the  Lord 
Chancellor — Opinions  of  Lords  Derby,  Chelmsford,  and  Bishop 
of  Exeter — '  The  London  we  Live  in  ' — Diary  in  Wales — Verbal 
Inspiration — Speech  at  Hastings — Speech  at  Oxford — Clergymen 
should  be  Gentlemen — Letter  to  Mr.  Gordon        .         .         .         .130 

CHAPTER   VL 

(1865-66.) 

Letter  to  Mr.  Gordon — Proposed  visit  to  South  of  France — Oxford 
University  Election — Correspondence  with  Mr.  Gladstone — Cud- 
desdon  College  Festival — Letter  to  Father  Ignatius — Increase  of 
the  Episcopate — Ordination  at  Lavington — Oueen  Emma — Tour 
in  the  North  of  England — The  Bishop's  Diary — January  and 
February  1866 — Letters  to  Sons  —  Sir  C.  Anderson  —  And  a 
Clergyman 158 

CHAPTER   Vn. 

(1865-67.) 

Letters  to  the  Rev.  Sir  G.  Prevost — Archbishop  of  Canterbury — 
Proposed  Circular  Address — Meeting  of  Bishops — Mr.  Gladstone 
on  Ritual  Legislation — Letters  to  Mr.  Fremantle  and  Mr.  Butler 
— Speech  in  Convocation — Charge  of  1866 — Legislation  Unad- 


CONTENTS.  xi 

PAGE 

visable — The  Proper  Mode — Advantages  of  an  Increased  Ritual 
—  Reading  Addresses  —  Answer  to  Memorial — Resolution  in 
Convocation — Proposed  Legislation  —  Lord  Shaftesbury  —  The 
Archbishop — Legislation  Averted  by  the  Bishop  and  Mr.  Glad- 
stone— Royal  Commission — Lord  Shaftesbury's  Bill,  Speech  on 
— Lord  Shaftesbury  Objects  to  the  Bishop  on  Commission — The 
Bishop's  Challenge — First  Report  of  the  Ritual  Commission — 
Letter  to  his  Son i86 

CHAPTER   VIII. 

(1867.) 

Debate  on  Status  of  Colonial  Church — Bishop's  Speech  on— Diary 
— Conversation  with  Mr.  Bright — Increase  of  the  Episcopate — 
Letter  on  Suffragan  Bishops — Letter  to  Mr.  Gordon — Visit  to 
Brighstone  —  Speech  to  Sunday  School  Teachers  —  Letter  to 
Bishop  Milman — The  Pan-Anghcan  Conference — Letter  to  Sir 
C.  Anderson — Diary — Conversations  with  Lord  Clarendon — Re- 
opening of  Chichester  Cathedral — Letter  to  Mr.  Gordon      .         .219 

CHAPTER   IX. 

(186S.) 

Second  Report  of  the  Ritual  Commission — Letters  to  the  Archbishop 
— Sir  C.  Anderson — Diary — Good  Friday — Irish  Church — Letter 
from  Mr.  Disraeli — Diary — Conversation  with  Lord  O.  Russell — 
Confirmation  at  Westminster — Dean  Stanley's  Letter — Diocesan 
Management — Letters  to  Clergy — Mr.  and  Mrs.  Pye's  Secession 
to  Rome — Diary — Letters  to  Sir  C.  Anderson — Re\\  E.  Wilber- 
force — Diary — Letter  to  Mr.  Disraeli — Church  Congress  in  Ire- 
land— Diary — Visit  to  Knowsley — Death  of  Archbishop  Longley 
Letter  from  Mr.  Disraeli — Diary — Dean  Wellesley's  History  of 
the  Church  Appointments — Letters  to  Sir  C.  Anderson — Visit  to 
Hatfield— Letters  to  Rev.  E.  Wilberforce — Sir  C.  Anderson         ,  239 

CHAPTER   X. 
(1868-69.) 

The  Irish  Church — Conservative  Policy — The  Bishop  in  186S — The 
General  Election — The  Bishop's  Advice  after  the  Elections — 
Letter  to  Archbishop  Trench — Meetings  of  the  Bishops — Import- 
ant Discussion — The  Bill  in  the  House  of  Lords — The  Bishop's 
Speech — Letter  to  Mr.  Majendie — Explanation  and  Vindication 
of  Attitvide  towards  the  Measure 274 


Xll  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER   XL 

(1869.) 

PAGE 

Letter  to  Sir  C.  Anderson — ^The  Diary — Martin  v.  Mackonochie — 
Before  the  Table— Letters  on  Change  of  Position — Death  of 
Bishop  Hamihon — Letter  to  the  Bishop  of  Capetown^The  Diary 
— Offer  of  Winchester^The  Lord  High  Ahiionership — Letter  to 
Mr.  Butler — Letter  from  Lord  Overstone — Ruridecanal  Addresses 
and  Rephes  —  Liverpool  Congress  —  Farewell  Charge  to  the 
Diocese — -Address  of  the  Clergy — Reply — Letter  from  Mr.  Glad- 
stone on  the  Address  —  Leave-taking  —  Enthronement  at  Win- 
chester— '  Silence  in  the  great  Cathedral ' 293 

CHAPTER   XIL 

(1848-73.) 

Introduction  of  Sisterhoods  into  Oxford  Diocese  —  Letter  to  Mr. 
Butler — Wantage  Sisterhood^Clewer  Sisterhood — Letter  to  the 
Superior — The  Chaplain — The  Sisters — Perpetual  Vows — Speech 
at  the  Church  Congress,  1862 — Sisterhood  in  Winchester  Diocese 
— Statutes  Approved  by  the  Bishop 322 

CHAPTER   Xin. 

(1870.) 

The  Winchester  Diocese^Bishop's  Resignation  Bill — Correspond- 
ence with  Mr.  Gladstone^The  Diary — The  Irish  Land  Bill — 
Revision  of  the  New  Testament — Letters  to  and  from  Mr.  Glad- 
stone— Rules  for  Revision — ^What  Ought  to  be  Altered  and  What 
Not — The  Westminster  Scandal — PubUc  and  Private  Utterances 
upon — Visitation  of  Channel  Islands — Visit  to  M.  Guizot — First 
Function  in  Channel  Islands— Confirmations — First  Ordination 
in  Islands — Return  to  England — Alarming  Illness — Death  of 
Mrs.  E.  Wilberforce — Diocesan 33S 

CHAPTER   XIV. 

(1871-72.) 

The  Diary— Letters  to  Miss  Thornton — Visit  to  Hatfield — Confirma- 
tions—Anecdotes— The  Diary — Visit  to  Scotland — Letter  to  his 
Daughter-in-Law — The  Glengarry  Scandal — Letters  about — Ill- 
ness of  the  Prince  of  Wales — Athanasian  Creed — Synodical  De- 
claration—  The  Diary — The  Bishop  receives  Roman  Catholic 
Priest — Conversation  with  Mr.  For^ter  —  The  Diary — Church 
Congress  at  Leeds — Descriptive  Letter  to  Rev.  H.  Pearson — 
Letters  to  his  Daughter-in-Law 273 


CONTENTS.  xiii 

CHAPTER   XV. 

(1873.) 

PAGE 

Death  of  the  Rev.  H.  Venn — Diary — Thirteen  to  Dinner — Last 
Sermon  at  Lavington — Death  of  Henry  Wilberforce — Visit  to 
Parham — Letters  to  Sir  C.  Anderson — Sir  R.  Phillimore — Dean 
Garnier's  Death — The  Judicature  Bill — Private  Confession — Last 
Speech  in  House  of  Lords — ^Letter  from  Lord  Granville — The 
Bishop's  Death — Letter  from  Prince  of  Wales — Speeches  in 
House  of  Lords  and  Convocation  on  the  Bishop — Mr.  Gladstone's 
Speech  at  Willis's  Rooms-  '  Samuel  Wilberforce.    At  rest '         .  406 


APPENDIX   A. 

Reasons  for  altering,  as  follows,  the  3rd  and  4th  Vict.    Cap.  86, 
sec.  16,  so  far  as  concerns  the  Supreme  Court  of  Appeal       .         .  440 

APPENDIX   B. 

First  Report  of  the  Ritual  Commissioners  ...  .         .  444 

INDEX ...  449 


The  Portrait  forming  the  Frontispiece  to  this  Volume  is  from  a  Painting  by 
George  Richmond,  Esq.,  R.A. 


Errata  in  Volu/ne  I. 

Page       2,  line    2,  for  '  1S54'   7\'ad  '  1S64.' 

37,    ,,      8,  ,,     '  Lady  Prevost '  read  '  Miss  Prevost.' 
136,    ,,    20,  ,,     '  Crab  Robinson '  read  '  Crabb  Robinson.' 
151,    ,,    21,  ,,     'cathedrals'  read  '  canonries.' 
187,  _,,    ?,}>  „     '1865'  read  '1855.' 
196,  in  notis,  ,,     '  Lowe  '  7-ead  '  Low.' 


Errata  in  Volume  II. 


Archdeacon  Denison  requests  me  to  state  that,  in  his  rejoinder  of  April  20, 
1854,  as  then  published,  he  demurred  absolutely  to  this  letter,  in  respect  both  of 
matter  and  manner  of  teaching. 

Page  411,  line  2%,  for  '  1818  '  read  '  1828.' 
,,      ,,    33,  ,,     'are'  read  'care.' 
414, /w-  'Dungannon'  read  '  Duncannon.' 
416,  in  notis, /i7r  'brother'  read  'no  relation.' 
421,  lines  10  and  \i,^for  '  D.C.L.'  read  'LL.D.' 
,,     in  notis,  line  '^,for  'utque  precepta'  read  'atque  praecepta.' 
,,  ,,         ,,      7,yb/- '  imbuerit '  read  'imbueret. ' 

451,  line  7,  '  I  would  rather  be  descended  from  an  ape  than  a  bishop.' 
The  passage  ought  to  be  '  If  I  had  to  choose  between  being  descended  from  an 
ape  or  from  a  man  who  would  use  his  great  powers  of  rhetoric  to  crush  an  argu- 
ment, I  should  prefer  the  former. ' 


Errata. 

Page  147,  line  17,  for  'George  IV'  read  'George  III.' 
'      1 56,     , ,      5  from  bottom,  /^r  '  still '  read  '  again. ' 

234,  line    5,/^^  'Foreign  Secretary'  read  'Lord  Privy  Seal.' 
356,    ,,      9, >r 'had  a  misgiving' rm^' had  no  misgiving.' 
423,  last  line  but  one,  for  '  allowed  me  print '  read  '  allowed  me  to  print.' 
,,     430,  in  the  account  of  those  present  at  the  Bishop's  funeral,  the  names 
of  Archdeacon    Sir  George  Prevost,  Archdeacon    Randall,    and    Lord    Richard 
Cavendish  have  been  accidentally  omitted. 


Wilher force's  Life,  Vol.  III. 


LIFE 

OF 

BISHOP    WILBERFORCE. 

CHAPTER    I. 

(1861.) 

ESSAYS  AND  REVIEWS— ARTICLE  IX  '  QUARTERLY  REVIEW  '—DISCUSSION  OF 
BISHOPS— ANSWER  TO  ADDRESSES— LETTER  TO  BISHOP  OF  LLANDAFF — RE- 
NEWED DISCUSSION — COMMITTEE  APPOINTED — SYNODICAL  CONDEMNATION 
— THE  BISHOP  AND  THE  ROUGHS — SUFFRAGAN  BISHOPS— THE  DIARY — 
WEDDING  DAY — DEATH  OF  MRS.  SARGENT — MR.  GLADSTONE  AND  OXFORD 
UNIVERSITY — DEATH  OF  SIR  JAMES  GRAHAM— TOUR  IN  IRELAND — CON- 
VERSATIONS—OPINION ON  PROTESTANT  MISSION — VISIT  TO  DUBLIN — THE 
DIARY — MISSIONARY  BISHOPS— CONSECRATION  OF  MR.  STALEY — DEATH  OF 
THE  PRINCE  CONSORT— SPEECH  AT  READING — LETTER  TO  SIR  C.  ANDERSON 
ON   FUNERAL  OF   PRINCE. 

In  the  autumn  of  i860,  the  now  ahiiost  forgotten,  but 
then  famous  book,  called  '  Essays  and  Reviews,'  was 
published.  The  outcry  occasioned  by  it,  heightened, 
it  is  true,  by  the  Colenso  trouble,  materially  altered  for 
a  time  the  relations  of  the  High  and  Low  Church 
parties  and  also  modified  the  hostility  with  which  the 
latter  party  had  lately  regarded  the  Bishop.^  It  seems 
almost  needless  to  state  that  the  extreme  partisans 
underwent  no  change  in  their  opinions.  But  never- 
theless the  Low  Church  party  generally  did  turn  to 

'  Writing  in  1S62,  Dr.  McXeile  s.iys  :    '  In  our  conflict  with  infidelity  he  (the 
Bishop)  is  our  invrJuablc  champion.' 

VOL.  III.  B 


2  LIFE   OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.  chap.  i. 

the  Bishop  as  a  champion  against  this  newly  developed 
danger.  'The  Record,'  in  1864,  after  an  address 
delivered  at  Oxford  on  the  Inspiration  of  Scripture, 
said  :  '  We  are  often  painfully  compelled  to  differ  from 
his  lordship,  but  our  confidence  has  not  been  disap- 
pointed that,  in  a  matter  so  essentially  affecting  the 
foundations  of  Christianity,  the  Bishop  would  be  found 
true  to  the  faith.' 

'  The  Quarterly  Review  '  of  January  1861  contained 
an  article  on  '  Essays  and  Reviews'  which  is  now  known 
to  have  been  written  by  the  Bishop  ;  that  article  w^as 
so  widely  read  that  the  number  of  '  The  Quarterly ' 
which  contained  it  went  through  five  editions.  Before 
'  The  Quarterly  '  appeared,  an  agitation  had  commenced 
against  the  book,  which  took  the  form  of  addresses 
to  the  Episcopate,  inquiring  what  steps  they  as  Bishops 
were  going  to  take. 

The  report  of  the  discussion  which  follows  is 
somewhat  remarkable  from  the  fact  that,  for  the  first 
time  in  the  record  of  these  meetings,  the  Bishop  of 
Winchester  was  found  opposing  his  brother  the  Arch- 
bishop. The  Bishop  of  St.  David's,  on  this  as  on 
nearly  every  other  occasion,  at  this  time  acted  with  the 
Bishop  of  Oxford. 

Febntavy  \. — (Cuddcsdon.)  Up  early  for  the  train.  Wrote 
sermon  all  the  way  up.  Saw  Gladstone.  Then  to  meeting 
of  Bishops  ;  long  discussion  on'  Essa}-s  and  Reviews.'  Came 
down  to  Fulham  with  Bishops  of  London,  Rochester,  Carlisle. 
At  night  very  much  tired. 

The  following  is  taken  from  a  report  made  by  the 
Bishop,  of  this  meeting  at  w^hich  both  the  Archbishops 
and  seventeen  Bishops  were  present.  The  Archbishop 
opened  the  discussion  by  reading  addresses  ;  he  was 
followed  by  the  Archbishop  of  York,  the  Bishop  of 
London,    and    others,    and    then    by    the    Bishop    of 


i86i.  MEETING  OF  BISHOPS.  3 

Salisbury,  who,  with  deep  feehng,  explained  his 
reasons  for  admitting  R.  Williams  -  into  his  diocese. 
The  Bishop  of  St.  David's  pointed  out  that  a  mere 
Declaration  by  the  Bishops,  unless  followed  by  action, 
would  be  an  admission  '  that  we  had  no  means  of  re- 
pressing prolate  heresy  ; '  he  strongly  deprecated  any 
discussion  in  Convocation.  The  Archbishop  of  Can- 
terbury said  he  thought  '  that  the  addresses  had  put 
us  into  a  difficulty  ; '  he  thought  '  that  if  we  did  not 
answer  them  it  would  be  most  injurious  to  us,'  and  he 
suggested  answers.  i.  Condemnation  of  doctrine. 
2.  Special  notice  of  unsuitableness  for  clergy  to  have 
written.  3.  Uncertainty  of  legal  proceedings,  especially 
from  ambiguity,  not  of  our  formularies,  but  of  their 
(the  essayists')  writing.  4.  Mode  of  operation  to  be 
by  clergy  preaching  more  faithfully  the  Gospel. 

Bishop  Hampden  of  Hereford  thought  'that  this 
was  a  question  between  Infidelity  and  Christianity, 
and  that  we  ought  to  prosecute  :  a  question  of  Chris- 
tianity or  no  Christianity.' 

The  Bishop  of  London  :  *  The  difficulty  is  that  we 
have  two  sets  of  people  to  consider,  i.  Those  likely 
to  be  injured  by  the  book  ;  and  (2)  those  who  are  not. 
For  the  first,  the  only  way  is  to  let  everyone  who  can 
answer  them  show  their  shallowness  and  further  point 
out  the  great  doctrines  which  all  the  essayists  under- 
value. For  the  second,  that  we  ought  to  think  of  the 
effect  on  others.'  Two  of  the  essayists  were  dear 
friends  of  his.  Of  the  essays  he  considered  Pattison's 
unobjectionable,  and  as  to  Temple's  he  defied  any  man 
to  extract  anything  heretical  from  it.  Jowett's  essay, 
he  said,  could  only  be  answered  by  bringing  out  the 
doctrines  which  he  neglects.  He  expressed  himself 
strongly   in   favour   of  a    Declaration  of  doctrine,  in 

^  One  of  the  writers. 
B  2 


4  LIFE   OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.  chap.  i. 

which  he  was  supported  by  the  Archbishop.  The 
Bishop  of  Oxford  was  against  a  Declaration  of  doc- 
trine, because  by  such  action  Bishops  would  originate, 
and  secondly  because  it  would  be  condemning  the 
essayists  unheard.  The  Bishop  of  Winchester  sup- 
ported him,  and,  replying  to  the  Archbishop,  w^ho  had 
said  '  that  the  addresses  did  not  ask  what  we  were 
going  to  do,  but  what  our  opinions  are,'  said  :  '  The 
addresses  must  mean  what  are  you  going  to  do,  how 
are  we  to  stop  after  a  declaration  ?  our  present  posi- 
tion is  very  difficult,  It  would  then  be  worse — there  are 
difficulties  on  both  sides — inclined  to  take  legal  advice. 
Agreed  with  the  Bishop  of  Oxford.' 

The  Bishop  of  London  said  that  the  Bishops  of 
St.  David's  and  Manchester,  both  believing  that  the 
case,  if  tried,  would  fail,  supported  the  Bishop  of  Oxford. 
He  did  not  agree  with  the  argument  that  It  was  a 
reflection  on  the  Church  of  England  that  her  Articles 
did  not  meet  every  form  of  evil.  He  thought  that 
false  doctrine  must  be  endured. 

The  result  of  this  meeting  is  to  be  found  in  the 
following  extract  : — 

February  2. — (Fulham.)  At  the  entreaty  of  Bishops,  drew 
up  an  answer  to  addresses,  which  they  all  adopted,  and  we 
sent  it  out.  Then  to  London,  and  I  set  to  work  on  sermon 
for  to-morrow,  and  down  to  Oxford  by  3  train.  Dined  at 
Oriel  Gaudy ;  small  party ;  no  college  enthusiasm  ;  quite 
understand  its  decline.  Provost  good,  but  far  too  cold  for 
the  post. 

As  the  Bishop's  com.position,  and  on  account  of  Its 
Intrinsic  importance,  the  answer  to  the  addresses  Is 
Inserted  :-  — 

Lambeth,  February  12,  iS6i. 

Reverend  Sir, — I  have  taken  the  opportunity  of  meeting 
many  of  my    Episcopal   brethren    in    London   to    lay  your 


i86i.  UNANIMITY  OF  THE  BISHOPS.  5 

address  before  them.  They  unanimously  agree  with  me  in 
expressing  the  pain  it  has  given  them  that  any  clergyman  of 
our  Church  should  have  published  such  opinions  as  those 
concerning  which  you  have  addressed  us.  We  cannot  under- 
stand how  these  opinions  can  be  held  consistently  with  an 
honest  subscription  to  the  formularies  of  our  Church,  with 
many  of  the  fundamental  doctrines  of  which  they  appear  to 
us  essentially  at  variance. 

Whether  the  language  in  which  these  views  are  expressed 
is  such  as  to  make  their  publication  an  act  which  could  be 
visited  in  the  Ecclesiastical  Courts,  or  to  justify  the  Synodical 
condemnation  of  the  book  which  contains  them,  is  still  under 
our  gravest  consideration.  But  our  main  hope  is  our  reliance 
on  the  blessing  of  God,  in  the  continued  and  increasing 
earnestness  with  which  we  trust  that  we  and  the  clergy  of  our 
several  dioceses  may  be  enabled  to  teach  and  preach  that 
good  deposit  of  sound  doctrine  which  our  Church  teaches  in  its 
fulness,  and  which  we  pray  that  she  may,  through  God's  grace, 
ever  set  forth  as  the  uncorrupted  Gospel  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ.     I  remain,  reverend  Sir,  your  faithful  servant, 

J.  B.  Cantuar. 

The  Rev.  H.  B.  Williams. 

I  am  authorised  to  append  the  following  names  : 


C.  T.  Ebor. 
A.  C.  London. 
T.  M.  Durham. 
C.  R.  Winton. 
H.  Exeter. 
C.  Peterborough. 
C.  St.  David's. 
A.  T.  Chichester. 
J.  Lichfield. 
S.  Oxon. 
T.  Ely. 

T.  V.  St.  Asaph. 
J.  P.  Manchester. 


R.  D.  Hereford. 

J.  Chester. 

A.  Llandaff. 

R.  J.  Bath  and  Wells. 

J.  Lincoln. 

C.  Gloucester  and  Bristol. 

W.  Sarum. 

R.  Ripon, 

J.  T.  Norwich. 

J.  C.  Bangor. 

J.  Rochester. 

S.  Carlisle. 


A  second  meeting  of  the   Bishops  took  place  on 
March  13,  \Ahen  the  question  was  raised  as  to  whether 


6  LIFE  OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.  chap.  I. 

the  Bishops  collectively  should  prosecute  the  writers,  or 
whether  such  prosecution  should  be  left  to  individual 
Bishops.  On  being  put  to  the  vote,  the  latter  course 
was  decided  on  by  a  majority  of  one.  In  the  course 
of  the  debate  several  of  the  Bishops  who  voted  in  the 
majority  offered  to  share  the  expense  which  would 
fall  upon  the  Bishop  of  Salisbury.  He,  however,  de- 
clined any  such  assistance. 

The  Bishop  of  Oxford  next  proposed  that  the 
Bishops  should  take  synodical  action  against  the  book. 
This  question,  on  being  put  to  the  vote,  was  carried  : 
nine  votingf  for,  five  acrainst. 

The  answer  to  the  addresses  ^  was  considered  by 
a  high  authority,  Vice-Chancellor  Wood,  afterwards 
Lord  Hatherley,  to  be  a  sentence  of  censure  and  con- 
demnation, and  that  the  sentence  must  be  regarded  as 
published.  In  the  meantime  the  Bishop  of  Salisbury 
began  proceedings  against  Mr.  Rowland  Williams,  and 
this  step  prevented  the  Bishops  for  a  time  from  obtain- 
ing a  synodical  condemnation  of  the  book,  owing  to 
the  apprehension  that,  if  the  book  were  condemned, 
Mr.  Rowland  Williams's  essay  could  not  be  passed  over, 
and  therefore  the  Bishops  would  seem  to  be  interfering 
^with  a  matter  before  the  Courts  ;  and  also  because  the 
Archbishop  and  Bishop  of  London  sat  as  judges  on  the 
Judicial  Committee.  The  following  letter  to  the  Bishop 
of  Llandaff  will  show  how  the  Bishop  treated  the  ob- 
jection of  apparent  interference  with  judicial  proceed- 
ings. He  thought  that  the  Bishops  ought  to  help 
to  define  the  law  which  the  lawyers  would  have  to 
administer} 

3    v.   sup.   p.   4. 

<  It  is  worthy  of  remark  that  the  Lord  Chancellor,  Westbur)-,  when  delivering 
the  judgment  of  the  Judicial  Committee  of  the  Privy  Council  in  1864  in  the  appeal 
cases  of  the  Bishop  of  Salisbury  v.  Williams  and  Fendall  -'.  Wilson,  declared  that 
their  judgment  was  not  on  the  book,  but  on  the  men,  thus  supporting  the  line 


l86l.  CHARACTER   OF  THE  BOOK.  7 

Bishop  of  Oxford  to  BisJiop  of  Llandaf. 

July  3,  1861. 

My  dear  Bishop, — Will  you  let  me  suggest  to  you  for 
your  consideration  the  reasons  which  bring  me  to  an  opposite 
conviction  ?  I  say  nothing  of  the  reasons  which  make  me  so 
earnest  for  some  synodical  act,  because  on  them  we  are,  I 
believe,  already  agreed,  especially  on  the  duty  of  the  Church 
by  some  public  and  official  act  (if  permitted),  clearing  herself 
from  complicity  with  those  who,  teaching  in  her  name,  teach 
men  to  give  up  God's  Word,  Creation,  Redemption,  and  the 
Work  of  God  the  Holy  Ghost. 

But,  agreeing  in  this,  you  are  disposed  to  think  that,  the 
Bishop  of  Salisbury  having  begun  proceedings  against 
Rowland  Williams,  we  are  precluded  from  action  in  Synod. 
To  this  I  say  : — 

1.  We  are  not  proposing  in  Synod  to  act  against  the  men 
but  to  condemn  the  book. 

2.  If  R.  W.  is  convicted  one  man  only  is  touched.  The 
Church  should  condemn  tJie  book. 

3.  R.  W.  cannot  be  convicted  unless  it  is  proved  that  he 
personally  is  responsible  for  teaching  against  our  formularies  ; 
and  as  that  proceeding  is  highly  penal,  the  accused  ought  to 
have,  and  will  have,  every  possible  loophole  afforded  him  for 
escape. 

The  question  whether  the  hook  is  one  which  the  Church 
ought  to  condemn  is  quite  a  different  question  from  whether 
one  particular  writer  in  it  has  made  himself  responsibly  liable 
to  extreme  criminal  proceedings  by  his  share  in  it.  Thus  e.g. 
the  condemnation  of  the  book  ought  to  depend  on  its 
character  as  a  li'hole.  The  issue  of  criminal  proceedings 
against  one  writer  must  turn  absolutely  on  his  own  writing, 

the  Bishop  took  in  the  letter  to  the  Bishop  of  Llandaff.  He  said  that  '  the 
Judicial  Committee  of  the  Privy  Council  had  neither  the  power  nor  the  duty  to 
pronounce  any  opinion  on  the  character,  effect,  or  tendency  of  the  publication 
known  by  the  name  of  Essays  and  Reviews.  If  therefore  the  book,  or  these  two 
Essays,  or  either  of  them  as  a  whole,  be  of  a  mischievous  or  baneful  tendency, 
as  weakening  the  foundations  of  Christian  belief,  and  likely  to  cause  many  to 
offend,  they  will  still  retain  that  character,  and  be  liable  to  that  condemnation, 
notwithstanding  thisiour  judgment.' 


8  LIFE  OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.  chap.  i. 

and  on  his  having  so  written  it  as  to  express  his  own  opinion. 
Again,  if  the  Court  condemns  R.  W.,  our  having  condemned 
the  book  will  merely  be  proof  of  our  due  official  guardianship 
of  the  faith  having  been  vigilantly  exercised  :  if  the  Court 
determines  that  R.  W.  is  not  liable  to  the  extreme  penalty  of 
the  law,  the  Church  will  be  saved  the  intolerable  scandal  of 
such  a  book  being  justified,  and  the  just  distinction  between 
the  condemnation  of  the  writing  and  the  punishment  of  the 
writer  will  be  preserved.  Again,  the  matter  having  been 
brought  by  the  Lower  House  before  us,  the  Guardians  of  the 
Faith,  it  seems  to  me  essential  that  at  some  time  we  should 
synodically  clear  our  Church  from  tolerating  such  heresy  in 
our  ordained  teachers.  But  if  this  is  to  be  done  at  all,  tJiis 
seems  to  me  the  best  time.  For,  if  R.  W.  is  condemned,  there 
would  be  a  certain  appearance  of  trampling  on  the  fallen,  in  a 
synodical  condemnation  ;  and  if  he  were  acquitted,  it  would 
certainly  be  held  to  be  an  appeal  from  the  Court  of  Law  to 
the  Synod.  I  do  not  say  that  these  reasons  would  prevent 
my  acting  hereafter  if  we  could  not  act  now,  but  I  think  they 
are  strong  reasons  for  preferring  present  to  future  action.  Then, 
again,  I  think  it  of  great  moment  for  the  Synod  that  we 
should  get  clear  of  this  question  by  present  action,  and  not 
have  it  hang  on  for  another  session,  all  which  is  commended 
to  your  better  judgment.  I  am  ever,  my  dear  Bishop, 
most  sincerely  yours, 

S.  OxON. 

The  following  remarkable  entry  in  the  Bishop's 
diary  occurs  in  1862. 

Jamiary  28. —  After  luncheon,  rode  with  Carlyle  to  Cheri- 
ton  on  the  way  to  the  Beacon.  Carlyle  against  the  essayists 
on  dishonesty  ground  and  atheistic. 

In  1864  the  Judicial  Committee  of  the  Privy 
Council  delivered  its  judgment  in  the  two  cases  ^  arising 
out  of  the  book,  acquitting  both  the  defendants.  It  is 
important  here  to  bear  in    mind,   in   considering   the 

*  Bishop  of  Salisbury  v.  Williams,  and  Fendall  v.  Wilson. 


l86i.  PROCEEDINGS  IN  CONVOCATION.  9 

subsequent  action  of  the  Bishops  on  this  question, 
that  according  to  the  Ecclesiastical  law  the  proceedings 
against  Messrs.  Williams  and  Wilson  were  criminal. 
Of  this  fact  the  Judicial  Committee  availed  themselves, 
opening  to  the  accused  every  technical  door  of  escape. 
On  April  20,  the  Bishop,  in  the  Upper  House  of 
Convocation,  moved  the  followino-  resolution  : 

'That  this  House,  having  received,  on  June  21, 
186 r,  from  the  Lower  House,  their  resolution  of 
June  2,  1 86 1,  that  In  its  opinion  there  are  sufficient 
grounds  for  proceeding  to  a  synodical  judgment  on  the 
"  Essays  and  Reviews  ;  "  that,  having  on  July  9,  1861, 
adjourned  the  consideration  of  the  subject  pending  the 
course  of  the  then  existing  suit  ;  and  that  suit  being 
now  concluded — ^Resolved,  that  this  House  resume  the 
consideration  of  the  subject,  and  that  a  committee  of 
this  House  be  appointed,  first  to  consider  the  com- 
munications made  on  this  subject  by  the  Lower  House  ; 
secondly,  to  consider  the  book  referred  to  in  such  com- 
munications ;  and  thirdly,  to  report  thereon  to  the 
House.' 

The  Bishop  was  enabled  to  renew  the  subject  by  a 
gravamen  which  had  been  sent  up  by  the  Lower 
House,  signed  by  forty  of  its  members,  amongst  whom 
were  three  Deans  and  twelve  Archdeacons.  Although 
the  Bishop  of  St.  David's  had  voted  widi  the  majority  in 
1861  in  favour  of  a  synodical  condemnation,  yet  he  now 
opposed  the  Bishop's  resolution  on  the  ground  that,  as 
the  judgment  had  pronounced  an  opinion  on  the  book, 
if  they,  the  Bishops,  were  now  to  pronounce  a  contrary 
opinion  it  would  do  no  good,  but  vv^ould  unsettle  men's 
minds,  and  that  it  would  be  a  Declaration  of  Faith. 
The  Bishop,  in  replying  to  him  as  his  '  dear  and 
honoured  brother,'  pointed  out  that,  if  the  resolution 
he  proposed  asked  the  House  in  any  way  to  reverse 


lO  LIFE   OF  BISHOP   WILBERFORCE.  chap.  i. 

the  sentence  of  the  Privy  Council,  he  agreed  ;  but,  so 
far  from  reversing  the  judgment,  a  synodical  con- 
demnation, if  recommended  by  the  Committee,  would 
run  pari  passiL  with  it,  because  the  judgment  was 
limited  to  two  points  ;  whereas,  if  the  Committee,  not 
being  limited  in  its  inquiry,  condemned  the  book,  it 
might  agree  with  the  Judicial  Committee  on  the  two 
points.  On  being  put  to  the  vote  the  numbers  were 
even,  and  the  Archbishop  gave  his  casting-vote  in 
favour  of  appointing  a  Committee.  The  Bishop  then 
moved  that  the  Archbishop  and  Bishops  of  the  Pro- 
vince of  Canterbury  be  the  Committee.  This  having 
been  carried,  the  House  adjourned  till  June  21,  on 
which  day  the  Bishop  brought  up  the  report  of  the 
Committee.  The  report  was  very  long,  and  com- 
menced by  saying  :  '  The  Committee,  having  examined 
the  book  referred  to  them  by  the  House,  and  the  com- 
munication relating  thereunto  made  by  the  Lower  to 
the  Upper  House,  and  being  of  opinion  that  the  Synod 
cannot  avoid  pronouncing  upon  the  doctrinal  character 
of  such  a  work,  written  in  great  part  by  clergymen 
of  the  United  Church  of  England  and  Ireland,  when 
thus  brought  under  its  notice,  report — That  the  book 
contains  false  and  dangerous  statements,  and  reason- 
ings at  variance  with  the  Church  of  Ensfland  and  de- 
serving  the  condemnation  of  the  Synod.  The  grounds 
of  their  judgment  are,  &c.  &c.  On  all  which  grounds 
your  committee  report  that  this  book  does,  in  their 
judgment,  merit  the  condemnation  of  this  Synod.' 

When  the  report  was  carried,  the  condemnation  was 
a  foregone  conclusion  ;  it  was  opposed  by  the  Bishop  of 
London  in  a  long  speech,  but  was  agreed  to,  with  only 
two  dissentients,  the  Bishops  of  London  and  Lincoln. 

The  decision  thus  arrived  at,  besides  its  moral 
value  as  a  vindication  of  Divine  Truth,  had  some  im- 


i86i.  A   DISTURBANCE  AVERTED.  II 

portant  bearings.  For  the  first  time  since  171 1  the 
Church  of  England  had  pronounced  synodically  upon 
a  question  of  Doctrine.  The  silence  of  1 50  years  had 
been  broken,  and  she  had  again  asserted  her  position 
as  having  authority  in  controversies  of  faith.  With 
regard  to  Bishop  Wilberforce  the  firmness  and  skill 
which  he  had  manifested  throughout  these  discussions 
may  be  said  to  have  finally  established  his  supremacy 
as  a  leader  both  in  Convocation  and  in  the  Church  at 
large. 

The  following  incident,  illustrative  of  the  Bishop's 
tact  and  courage,  occurred  during  the  annual  Confirma- 
tion tour  in  the  spring  of  this  year ;  it  is  communicated 
to  the  author  by  a  clergyman  who  was  present,  and  is 
given  in  his  own  words.      He  heads  it : — 

Bishop  Wilberforce  and  the  Roughs  of . 


A  Cemetery  was  to  be  opened  and  the  Church 
portion  consecrated.  Many  of  us,  Clergy  of  the 
neighbourhood,  met  the  Bishop  at  the  Squire's  house, 
and,  having  robed,  proceeded  with  his  Lordship 
through  the  park  into  the  lane  which  leads  along  the 
outskirts  of  the  town  to  the  Cemetery.  It  was  at 
this  point  that  we  found  a  crowd  of  persons  apparently 
disposed  for  a  disturbance  and  to  obstruct  our  way. 
It  was  a  critical  moment ;  but  with  wonderful  presence 
of  mind  the  Bishop  saw  the  thing  to  do,  and  did  it. 
He  strode  out  from  the  midst  of  us,  and,  taking  off  his 
college  cap,    spoke    thus    to   the    mob  : — '  Gentlemen 

of ,  the  superintendent  of  police  called  on  me  last 

night,  and,  stating  that  he  thought  our  proceedings  of 
to-day  might  possibly  be  interrupted  and  our  proces- 
sion attacked,  asked  me  if  he  had  better  not  provide 
an  extra  number  of  constables  for  the  occasion.  I 
replied,  "  I  am  much  obliged,  Mr.  Superintendent,  for 


1 2  LIFE   OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.  chap.  r. 

your  kind  consideration,  but  I  feel  sure  that  I  shall 
find  on  my  road  to  the  ground  very  many  of  the  towns- 
people who  will  be  ready  to  act  for  me,  if  necessary,  as 
my  body-guard,  and  preserve  the  peace."  I  see,  gentle- 
men (!),  I  was  not  mistaken,  and  accordingly  it  is  with 
every  confidence  that  I  now  commend  myself  and  this 
my  following  to  your  guidance  and  respect.'  Never 
was  party  of  roughs  more  thoroughly  surprised  into 
good  behaviour,  or  wolves  converted  as  suddenly  into 
lambs — -at  least,  for  one  day. 

March  14. — After  breakfast,  to  Ecclesiastical  Commission. 
Fight  about  St.  Lawrence — Reading,  and  carried  it.  The 
meeting  of  Convocation.  Debate  on  *  Essays  and  Reviews.* 
Then  to  House  of  Lords  on  Lord  Lyttelton's  motion.  Dined 
at  the  Athenaeum,  very  much  tired.  Bishop  of  Salisbury 
with  me. 

Lord  Lyttelton's  motion  mentioned  in  this  extract 
from  the  diary  was  for  the  second  reading  of  a  Bill 
providing  for  the  subdivision  of  dioceses.  The  Bishop 
took  part  in  the  debate,  and  that  part  of  his  speech 
which  deals  with  the  question  of  Suffragan  Bishops  is 
given  to  show  his  views  on  that  subject. 

He  felt  that  some  extension  of  the  episcopate  in 
England  was  a  desirable  object  and  essential  to  the 
thorough  working  of  the  Church  of  England  system, 
especially  in  certain  counties  where  great  masses  of 
the  population  were  gathered  together  without  any 
provision  for  their  receiving  the  offices  of  the  Church. 
He  was  of  opinion  that,  with  proper  checks  and  pro- 
visions, such  a  limited  increase  of  the  episcopate  was 
much  to  be  desired. 

Referring  to  the  Act  of  Henry  VI H.,  by  which 
the  Crown,  on  certain  representations  made  by  a 
Bishop,  could  appoint  a  Suffragan,  the  Bishop  said  : 
*  The  Act  contemplated  a  division  of  powers  that  the 


i86r.  SUFFRAGAN  BISHOPS.  1 3 

Church  had  never  admitted.  The  Suffragans  were 
Bishops  without  sees.  They  came  to  the  Bishops  of 
dioceses  as  coadjutors.  Suppose  a  Bishop  died,  the 
Suffragan  was  in  a  most  anomalous  position.  He 
could  only  continue  to  exercise  his  functions  with  the 
consent  of  the  new  Bishop,  and  it  might  happen  that 
he  might  feel  bound  to  object  to  the  acts  of  a  new 
Bishop.  Such  a  state  of  things  was  not  desirable,  and 
therefore  it  would  be  well  to  give  further  consideration 
to  the  subject  before  legislating  upon  it.' 

In  the  course  of  the  debate  the  Bishop  of  London 
had  suggested  the  fusion  of  the  office  of  Dean  and 
Suffragan  ;  to  this  the  Bishop  said  that  the  House 
was  not  at  present  prepared  to  deal  with  the  question 
of  fusion.  That  matter  might  be  dealt  with  in  the 
event  of  Suffragans  being  appointed  with  succession, 
&c.  He  held  succession  to  be  an  essential  part  of  the 
Church's  system,  and  that  to  vary  that  rule  would  be 
to  weaken  the  system.'' 

January  \^. — Cuddesdon.  Morning  church.  After  break- 
fast wrote  a  Httle.  Then  discussion  on  Banbury  Mission,  and 
'  Essays  and  Reviews.'  Walked  with  Liddon,  Lawrell,  Arch- 
deacon Randall  to  Garsington.  Then  wrote.  The  Ander- 
sons came.  Evening  backgammon.  The  new  'Quarterly' 
came.  Henry  (Pye)  reading  it  with  no  suspicion  and  quoting 
bits  to  me.'' 

Jamiary  2^. —  Cuddesdon.     I   at  church.     Then  the  An- 

"  The  second  reading  was  carried  by  four  votes. 

On  April  18,  Lord  Lyttelton  moved  that  the  Bill  be  referred  to  a  Select  Com- 
mittee, which  was  agreed  to. 

Select  Committee  reported  on  June  25. 

On  July  2  the  House  by  a  large  majority  declined  to  go  into  Committee  on  the 
Bill,  and  in  consequence  of  this  decision,  Lord  Lyttelton,  on  July  8,  announced 
his  intention  of  not  proceeding  with  the  measure,  being  convinced  of  the  hope- 
lessness o'"an  independent  Peer  attempting  to  legislate  on  these  Church  questions 
with  any  hope  of  success. 

'  This  number  of  the  'Quarterly'  contained  the  article  on  'Essays  and 
Reviews '  written  by  the  Bishop. 


14  LIFE   OF  BISHOP    IVILBERFORCE.  chap.  i. 

dersons,  Prevost,  and  Woodford  off.  I  at  work  on  sermon. 
Very  low  all  day.  One  hundred  guineas  came  for  Review. 
Reginald  and  I  rode  to  Water  Perry.  At  night  backgammon 
with  him. 

January  26. — Very  low,  partly  from  loneliness,  partly  un- 
able to  grapple  with  sermon.  Hard  at  work  at  it  all  day.  A 
ride  on  Shotover.     Finished  sermon  at  night. 

Jaimary  2J. — In  to  Oxford  for  All  Saints'  service. 
Greatly  cheered  by  seeing  my  Ernest  there.  Preached  with 
interest  to  full  church.  Afternoon  preached  University 
sermon  at  St.  Mary's  ;  very  full  and  attentive.  Cathedral 
after.  Saw  both  my  dears — Bas.  not  well.  And  out  to 
Cuddesdon. 

February  13. — Morning  at  work  on  sermon  ;  then  to  Chapel 
Royal.  Bishop  of  London  preached  ivell  on  *  Sin.'  Walked 
to  and  fro  with  the  Gladstones.  Again  at  work  and  down  to 
Oxford.  Preached  St.  Mary's.  Darkish.  But  vast  and  very 
attentive  congregation.  To  Warden  of  All  [Souls].  Saw 
Ernest,  and  out  to  Cuddesdon  with  Kempe  and  Archdeacon 
Randall. 

February  14. — Poorly  this  morning.  Cold,  &c.  The  Or- 
dination candidates  came.  I  addressed  them  twice.  At 
night  with  much  suffering.  Dearest  Bas.  rode  over.  Con- 
firmed at  Haseley  in  suffering.     Bad  night. 

February  15. — In  bed  all  day.  Bronchitis.  A  vast  number  of 
letters  to  send  to  Banbury  altering  all  mission  arrangements. 

Febj'uary  17. — (Still  in  bed.)  Read  service  and  Carter's 
most  striking  sermons.  I  hope,  with  profit.  Cogan  came  and 
examined  me  closely  ;  still  inflammation  in  large  bronchial 
tube.  I  got  up.  Basil  and  Ernest  walked  over,  and  Hoare  ; 
all  pleasant.  Dined  at  their  luncheon,  and  then  they  went 
back.     I  read  the  afternoon  service,  &c.     Wrote  a  little. 

February  19. — Better.  Acland  kindly  came  over,  hearing 
the  cancer  on  tongue  story.  Wrote  a  good  deal.  To  Wheat- 
ley  Confirmation,  feeling  very  weak.  But  earnest,  and,  D.  G., 
carried  through.  Back  and  read  and  wrote.  Read  good  deal 
of  Wolfe  ;  a  hearty  earnestness  of  religion  outweighing  his 
oddity. 

February  21. — Early  Communion.     My  cold  heavy  and  un- 


i86i.  DIARY.  15 

comfortable,  but  got  to  Addesbury  to  Confirmation.  A  nice 
Confirmation.  Then  on  after  letters  to  Bloxham.  Confirma- 
tion and  pleasant  greeting  with  clergy.  Then  a  capital 
sermon  from  Woodford  on  Redeeuiing  the  time :  buying  it 
back.  A  terrific  hurricane  at  night.  Drove  on  to  Banbury. 
Heard  dear  Majendie  ;  and,  well  tired,  to  bed. 

February  22. — Early    Communion.      Then   Confirmation 

for    Banbury  in    parish  church.     Then  drove  to ,  nice 

Confirmation  there.  Back  to  Banbury  and  poorly,  and  did 
not  go  out  at  night,  but  lettered. 

February  23. — Very  wet.  To  Wroxton  for  Confirmation, 
afterwards  luncheon  at  the  Abbey.  Then  back  to  Banbury. 
With  candidates  for  orders  ;  and  at  night  gave  charge  on  first 
prayer.  Woodford  preached  at  night  excellently  on  '  What 
shall  a  man  give  in  exchange  for  his  soul } ' 

February  24. — Morning  church.  Ordination.  Woodford 
preached  excellently  on  '  Lo,  I  am  with  you  always.'  After- 
noon prepared  sermon  for  evening.  A  vast  congregation. 
But,  D.  G.,  got  through. 

February  25. — Off  after  church  (at  which  fierce  toothache) 

for ,  where  a  pleasant  Confirmation,  and  baptised  Kendall's 

child.     Then  Chipping  Norton  Confirmation.     To  London. 

March  25. — Off  by  7  for  Windsor.  Breakfast  at  the 
Dean's,  and  in  to  the  Chapel.  The  funeral.**  The  service 
most  solemn  and  beautiful.  So  fade  the  flowers  of  earth. 
The  Prince  greatly  affected. 

April  15. — Cuddesdon.  Letters,  &c.,  and  then  rode  to 
Oxford  and  drove  with  Svvinny  to  Cumnor,  preached,  &c. 
Then  by  rail  to  Taplow,  and  with  Duchesses  of  Sutherland 
and  Argyll  and  Lady  Blantyre  to  Cliveden.  Nice  Confirmation 
at  Hedsor  and  pleasant  evening.    Read  Neale's  hymn  to  them. 

April  16. — Morning  fine.  The  two  Duchesses  took  me 
to  the  station :  a  good  deal  of  conversation.  To  London. 
Married  M.  Chester  and  P.  Fitzgerald  at  St.  James's.  About, 
and  letters,  and  down  to  Danny,  where  most  kindly  welcomed. 

April  17. — Up  and  walked  to  Down  before  breakfast. 
Rode  with  H.  and  M.  Campion  by  Ditchling  ]^eacon  to 
Brighton.     A  charming  ride,  but  the  atmosphere  rather  thick 

*  The  L'uchess  of  Kent. 


1 6  LIFE   OF  BISHOP    IVILBERFORCE.  chap.  i. 

with  N.E.  wind.  A  good  committee  meeting  (for  the  rebuild- 
ing of  Chichester  spire),  Duke  of  Richmond  in  chair.  Then 
by  1,30  P.M.  to  London,  and  found  account  of  my  Bas.  being 
ill.     Full  of  him.     At  University  Assurance  and  Grillion's. 

April  30.— Riseholme.  Off  at  7.25.  Rode  with  Sir  C. 
Anderson  to  Lincoln  station.  Rail  to  Southwell,  where 
breakfast  at  Archdeacon  Wilkins'.  All  very  hearty.  Fine 
service.  I  preached  afternoon  in  nave :  vast  congregation. 
Derby  man  seizing  hand  as  I  came  out  of  pulpit.  Home  by 
train  to  Riseholme,  a  few  letters. 

The  man  referred  to  in  the  above  entry  came  to 
Archdeacon  Wilkins  before  the  service,  and  said  he 
wished  to  speak  to  the  Bishop.  The  Archdeacon 
assured  the  man  that  such  a  thing  was  impossible, 
and  that  he  could  not  manage  it.  Nothing  daunted, 
the  man  took  his  seat  on  the  steps  of  the  pulpit,  and  as 
the  Bishop  came  down,  he  got  up,  seized  the  Bishop's 
hand,  and,  after  thanking  him  for  the  sermon,  said  : 
*  Now,  my  Lord,  I  am  the  representative  of  2,000 
working  men  at  Derby,  and  I  am  deputed  by  them  to 
ask  your  Lordship  to  come  and  preach  to  us.'  The 
Bishop  :  '  What  do  you  want  me  to  preach  to  you 
about  ? '  The  answer  was,  '  Religion,  my  Lord.'  The 
Bishop  then  assured  him  that  he  would  try  to  comply 
with  this  request,  and  would  write  and  let  him  know.^ 

May  2. — London.  Up  and  wrote  sermon.  Breakfast, 
Gladstone's  ;  Acton,  Lyttelton,  Sir  W.  James,  Lacaita,  &c. 
Home,  and  at  sermon  till  Convocation  Committee  at  2  on 
missions,  till  House.  Heard  of  Archbishop's  illness  with 
great  sadness.  Dined  Athenaeum  and  wrote  a  few  letters. 
Still  very  very  sad  about  Basil.     Miserere  Domine. 

May  5. — Chapel  All  Souls.  My  Ernest  with  me  three 
times.  May  God  bless  him  for  his  affection.  Confirmation 
at  Bampton  poor  ;  wretched   attendance.     Finished  sermon 

°  See  p.  "^i. 


i86i.  MA'S.   SARGENTS  ILLNESS. 


17 


and  preached  it  with  much  interest ;  a  great  congregation, 
most  attentive.  Then  to  St.  Giles's  Confirmation,  a  nice  one. 
And  then  to  Cuddesdon,  where  E — ,  Reg.,  Bas.,  Mrs.  Sargent 
better,  D.  G. 

May  19. — Up  early.  Prepared  sermon  for  Chapel  Royal 
and  preached  it  with  interest.  Afternoon  prepared  evening 
sermon.  Preached  it,  thank  God,  with  comfort,  and  longing 
prayers  for  conversion  of  some.  With  dear  Trench  after.  In 
great  anxiety  all  these  days  about  Mrs.  Sargent. 

May  20. — Off  for  Wolverton.  At  Tring  the  Custs.  Found 
I  had  mistaken  the  subject  of  sermon  and  changed  it.  Then 
stone-laying.     Address,  and  on  to  Manchester. 

June  2. — Cambridge.     Up  early  to  chapel.     Then  home 

and  at  sermon.      At  i  r,  chapel,  and preached  painfully. 

Then  wrote  till  2.  Brookfield  preached  an  interesting  sermon 
on  St.  Paul's  rapture.  I  wrote  till  dinner  in  Hall  at  4,  at 
which  near  the  Prince,  and  talk.  Then  preached  to  a  great 
congregation.     All  day  in  thought  with  beloved  Mrs.  Sargent. 

The  Bishop  was  summoned  home  on  June  3  by  a 
telegram  informing  him  that  Mrs.  Sargent,  who  had 
been  in  failing  health  for  some  time,  was  much  worse. 
From  that  day  to  July  6th,  when  the  end  came,  the 
Bishop  was,  with  but  rare  absences,  at  Cuddesdon. 
June  1 1,  his  wedding-day,  has  this  touching  entry  : 

My  wedding-day.  Ah  !  how  changed,  O  my  God,  from 
the  great  feast  of  the  year !  Talking  with  beloved  Mrs. 
Sargent  of  the  wedding — as  a  dream  when  one  awaketh. 
Oh,  if  I  had  her,  but  to  show  her  how  much  happier  I  could 
make  her  than  with  all  my  love  I  did. 

On  June  20  the  Bishop  was  in  London  for  Con- 
vocation.    The  next  day  the  diary  records : 

Breakfast  and  a  full  discussion.  Then  Convocation  on 
Missionary  Bishops.  Bishop  of  Gloucester  very  disagreeable. 
Smoothed  at  last,  and  hardly.  Then  Committee  on  Lord 
Lyttelton's  Bill.  Then  to  House  of  Lords,  Petitions,  &c. 
Off  by  6.30  train  and  home.  Dearest  Mrs,  Sargent  much 
the  same  as  before  :  she  full  of  the  Heavenly  Light. 
VOL.  III.  C 

)\ 


1 8  LIFE   OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.  chap.  i. 

Jtily  6. — Cuddesdon.  With  dearest  Mrs.  Sargent  before 
breakfast :  she  held  my  hand  lovingly.  Then  off  for  Reading 
Church  stone-laying.  Then  luncheon  in  tent :  all  going  well. 
To  Oxford,  and  rode  out.  Henry  and  Ernest  ^  riding  with 
me.  Near  the  College  met  Reginald,  who  pointed  out  to  us 
the  tolling  bell.  At  6.30  the  beloved  one  had  literally  ceased 
to  breathe — no  struggle,  no  strife.  One  of  her  last  words 
was,  '  There  is  a  glad  sound  of  victory  in  Heaven.'  All 
together  all  the  evening. 

The  diary  of  the  31st  has  the  following  record  of 
the  Bishop's  first  return  to  Cuddesdon  after  ]\Irs, 
Sargent's  death  : — 

July  31. — Windsor.  Early  breakfast  and  to  London, 
Preached  at  Westminster.  Then  to  the  University  Assurance. 
Dined  at  the  Athenaeum,  and  then  to  Cuddesdon — how 
solemn  and  awful  in  its  loneliness  ! 

A  friend,  who  knew  Mrs.  Sargent  well,  writes  to 
the  Bishop  ;  he  says  : — 

May  our  good  God  comfort  and  sustain  you  and  all 
those  who  have  so  long  looked  to  her  as  a  stay  and  guide 
and  example  !  Never  was  anyone  who  seemed  more  lent  to 
earth  from  Heaven  or  whose  words  and  looks  and  ways 
more  carried  one's  thoughts  thither.  That  exquisite  elegance 
and  perfection  of  unselfishness  are  never  to  be  forgotten.  It 
is  indeed  a  privilege  to  have  been  permitted  to  know  her  and 
to  be  able  to  remember  her. 

How  deeply  the  Bishop  felt  Mrs.  Sargent's  loss  is 
best  described  in  his  own  language  : — 

The  Bishop  of  Oxford  to  the  Right  Hon. 
TV.  E.  Gladsto7ie. 

Lavington  House,  July  lo,  iS6i. 

My  dear  Gladstone, — You  will  probably  have  heard  of 
the  great  sorrow  which  has  come  upon  us  in  the  loss  of  our 
dearest  Mrs.   Sargent.     She  was  still  so  young,  so  entirely 

•  Brother  and  Son. 


1 86 1.  MRS.  S ARGENTS  DEATH.  1 9 

sympathising,  so  able  to  enter  into  everything — of  heart,  of 
mind,  of  intellect,  of  soul — that  the  contrast  I  look  forward 
to  in  my  lonely  house  is  what  could  scarcely  be  believed. 
But  she  is  at  rest,  and  the  last  weeks  have  been  a  long  and 
sore  struggle. 

We  lay  her  remains  to-morrow  by  her  husband's  and  her 
children's,  moving  once  again  that  sacred  ground,  of  which 
the  stirring  is  as  if  men  ploughed  into  my  heart.  But  forgive 
me  all  this  egotism.  I  wanted  to  talk  to  you  about  Oxford  ; 
is  it  too  late  .'*...  If  it  is  not  too  late,  when  may  I  see  you  } 
I  am  most  truly  yours  affectionately, 

S.  OXON. 

The  Bishop  of  Oxford  to  Sii"  Cha7des  Andej^son. 

Cuddesdon,  July  7,  1S61. 

My  dearest  Anderson, — Our  watching  by  that  beloved 
one  is  over,  and  she  is  at  rest.  One  of  her  last  collected 
utterances  was,  '  There  is  a  blessed  sound  of  victory  in 
Heaven,*  and  it  has  been  fulfilled  to-day.  Her  only  fear 
was  that  her  patience  should  fail,  and  she  always  asked  for 
prayer  against  this,  and  it  was  answered  abundantly,  for  no 
word  or  gesture  of  impatience  ever  passed  from  her,  though 
she  said  to  me,  *  Never  did  weary  child  more  long  to  fall 
asleep  on  its  mother's  knee  than  I  do  for  my  rest,  when  it  is 
God's  will  to  give  it  to  me.*  I  was  called  to  her  early  on 
Thursday,  before  5.  A  great  change  had  taken  place.  Soon 
after  this  her  restlessness  passed  away.  Later  she  seemed 
generally  asleep,  but  roused  at  my  voice,  and  until  Friday 
joined  mentally,  and  with  clasped  hands,  in  prayer ;  and 
yesterday  evening,  without  a  sigh  or  a  struggle,  the  breath, 
which  had  been  drawn  at  longer  and  longer  intervals,  ceased 
altogether,  and  she  had  entered  on  her  rest.  I  am,  ever 
affectionately  yours,  o  Oyom 

It  will  be  remembered  that  for  four  years  after  1861 
Mr.  Gladstone  continued  to  sit  for  the  University  of 
Oxford  ;  the  question  of  his  retirement,  however,  was, 
it  appears,  already  mooted,  and  the  letters  which 
advert  to  this  matter  touch  incidentally  on  subjects  of 

c  2 


20  LIFE   OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.  chap.  i. 

a  very  different  character,  but  deeply  affecting  both 
the  Bishop  and  his  correspondent,  the  fatal  illness  of 
Lord  Herbert  of  Lea  and  the  death  of  Sir  James 
Graham. 

The  Bishop  of  Oxford  to  the  Right  Hon. 
W.  E.  Gladstone. 

Cuddesdon  Palace,  April  8,  1861. 

My  dear  Gladstone, — I  have  to-day  seen  the  Rector  of 
Exeter,  and  he  asked  me  to  say  to  you  that,  though  he  has 
sent  you  the  petition  against  paper-voting  to  present,  he  does 
not  wish  you  to  say  a  word  upon  it,  being  more  and  more 
persuaded  that  any  opposition  to  that  Bill  from  you  would 
injure  you  greatly,  and  caring  more  for  keeping  your  seat 
and  throwing  out  the  Bill  :  so  far  the  Rector.  As  I  know 
not  your  mind,  nor  whether  you  wish  for  opinions,  I  give 
none  on  the  great  question  of  your  seat.  Only  let  me  say : 
I.  That  if  I  can  be  of  any  use,  you  know  how  freely  you  may 
command  me  ;  2.  That  I  can  hardly  bear  the  thought  of  the 
degradation  to  us  of  your  ceasing  to  be  our  member.  I  am 
ever  very  affectionately  yours,  o   r)^^.^ 

The  Rio'ht  Hon.  W.  E.  Gladstone  to  the 
Bishop  of  Oxfo7'd. 

II  Downing  Street,  July  11,  1861. 

My  dear  Bishop  of  Oxford, — On  the  question  of  the  seat, 
obliged  as  I  am  to  write  in  haste,  I  cannot  do  better  than 
send  you  a  copy  of  a  letter  which  I  have  just  addressed  to  the 
Rector  of  Exeter.'^ 

*  The  Right  Hon.    W.  E.    Gladstone  to  the  Rector  of  Exeter  College, 

II  Downing  Street,  July  II,  1861. 
My  dear  Rector  of  Exeter, — If  I  have  apparently  neglected  to  answer  your 
most  kind  letters  it  has  been  from  great  anxiety  to  advance  to  a  stage,  before 
replying,  at  which  my  reply  might  be  worth  your  having. 

1  have  never  forgotten  the  ties  which  bind  me  to  my  kind  and  generous 
supporters  in  the  University,  and  no  prospect  elsewhere  could  induce  me  to  quit 
them,  unless  I  could  think  that  at  a  juncture  like  this  they  might,  with  every 
prospect  of  success,  support  a  candidate  who  would  fill  my  place  to  their  full  and 
general  satisfaction. 


lS6i.     MR.   GLADSTONE  AND  OXFORD  UNIVERSITY.      21 

To-morrow  Palmer's  prospects  are  to  be  considered.  I 
think,  so  far  as  my  personal  feelings  are  concerned,  that  they 
may  not  be  good  enough  to  justify  my  taking  the  South 
Lancashire  seat. 

We  feel  very  deeply  with  you  under  the  laceration  of 
spirit  which  Mrs,  Sargent's  death  must  have  brought  upon 
you.  However  bright  her  lot  may  be,  you,  with  your 
immense  labours,  and  the  cravings  of  your  mind  and  heart, 
must  sorely  indeed  feel  the  privation,  only  we  trust  that  in 
this  also  your  Master  will  be  enough  for  you. 

There  are  many  sad  things  around  us  (while  in  our  home, 
thank  God,  all  is  bright).  I  look  upon  Herbert's  case  with 
the  deepest  gloom.  It  is  my  painful  fear  that  his  life  is 
ebbing,  that  the  right  and  sufficient  means  have  not  been  and 
are  not  taken,  that  the  necessity  for  husbanding  resources  is 
overpowering,  and  the  stock  now  very  narrow.  Ever,  but  in 
haste,  yours  affectionately,  ^^  £_  GLAD.STONE. 


The  Bishop  of  Oxford  to  the  Right  Hon. 
W.  E.  Gladstone. 

Bishop  Thorpe  Palace,  October  29,  1861. 

My  dear  Gladstone, — I  cannot  help  expressing  to  you  my 
deep  sorrow  at  the  death  of  Sir  James  Graham,  I  had  always 
clung  to  the  hope  that  he  had  taken  too  gloomy  a  viev/  of  his 
own  symptoms,  and  that  he  might  be  spared  to  us  yet  awhile 
to  keep  up  the  tradition  of  those  great  men  of  that  generation 
which  is  passing  so  speedily  away.     Then  it  seems  to  leave 

Recent  events  have  made  it  requisite  to  consider  carefully  Mr.  Palmer's  posi- 
tion. He  writes  to  his  brother  by  this  post  on  the  subject,  and  we  are  both 
alike  sensible  that  no  time  is  to  be  lost. 

I  make  no  great  demand  on  your  power  of  belief  when  I  assure  you  that  it 
has  not  been  any  selfish  motive  which  induced  me  to  open,  in  the  second  year  of 
a  Parliament,  or  rather  to  allow  to  be  opened,  the  idea  of  my  quitting  the  seat 
to  which  I  had  been  elected.  It  will  be  very  pleasant  to  me  should  the  balance 
of  public  considerations,  when  we  have  ascertained  it  (I  trust  to-morrow  or  next 
day)  to  the  best  of  our  power,  admit  of  my  retaining  my  position.  To  quit 
Oxford  under  any  circumstances  would  be  to  me  a  most  sad,  even  if  it  ever 
become  a  prudent,  and  even  a  necessary  measure.  Believe  me,  with  great 
regard,  sincerely  yours,  ^^  ^^  GLADSTONE 


22  LIFE   OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.  chap.  I. 

you  so  bare,  and  I  know  how  much,  from  your  long  partner- 
ship in  office  and  in  opposition  with  him,  you  will  feel  it. 

I  have  heard  to-day  from  Woodard  that  you  offer  to 
support  his  great  movement  at  Oxford  on  the  19th,  20th,  or 
2 1st  of  November.  I  hope  you  can  give  him  the  22nd.  On 
your  two  first  days  I  could  not  be  in  Oxford,  and  the  21st 
has  long  been  fixed  for  a  great  book -hawking  meeting  there. 
I  should  be  so  glad  to  see  you.     Believe  me  to  be  affection- 

^^"^y  >^°^'''  S.  OXON. 

The  Right  Hon.  W.  E.  Gladsto7ie  to  the 
Bishop  of  Oxford. 

Hawarden,  October  31,  1861. 

My  dear  Bishop,— I  heartily  thank  you  for  your  sympa- 
thising words  and  your  estimate  of  the  loss  of  Sir  James 
Graham.  The  world,  which  is  not  usually  unkind,  mistook 
him ;  and  perhaps  it  was  no  wonder.  But  I  much  feel  his 
removal,  quite  apart  from  the  immense  value  which  I  attached 
to  his  administrative  knowledge  and  authority.  The  last 
twelve  months  have  taken  away  my  three  closest  political 
associates,  and  I  am  bare  indeed ;  and  yet,  apart  from  the 
personal  sense  of  loss,  those  events  are  not  wholly  unwelcome 
which  remind  me  that  my  own  public  life  is  now  in  its 
thirtieth  year,  and  ought  not  to  last  very  many  years  longer. 

I  am  very  glad  we  are  to  meet  at  Chatsworth. 

As  to  Mr.  Woodard's  meeting,  I  am  anything  but  a  volun- 
teer ;  he  pressed  it  a  oiitrance.  I  told  him  I  would  write  to 
you  ;  and  I  can  agree  for  either  a  later  hour  on  the  21st,  or 
the  early  hour  of  11  on  the  22nd,  as  may  suit  you  best.  I 
remain,  affectionately  yours,  ^^^^  ^    GLADSTONE. 

Jidy  9. — Off  by  9.30  train  for  London.  To  Convocation. 
Heart  sunk  at  low  tone  about  *  Essays,'  when  the  Faith  at 
stake.  Clear  that  Bishop  of  Salisbury  had  better  have  waited 
till  Convocation  had  spoken.  Dined  with  him  at  Athenaeum 
and  went  to  see  Herbert.     Noble  and  simple. 

Jidy  25. — Morning  wrote.  Breakfast  Gladstone,  Lacaita, 
M.  Milnes,  &c.     Much  talk  about  Peel.     Gladstone  said  his 


i86i.  DIARY.  23 

temper  was  really  bad,  morose,  sullen,  but  repressed  wonder- 
fully. Very  bad  account  of  Lord  Herbert.  To  Ecclesiastical 
Commission.     S.  P.  G.     House  of  Lords. 

July  29. — Up  early.  Read  Campbell  on  Atonement. 
Off  by  train  at  10  for  London,  and  on  to  Windsor,  laying  of 
first  stone  of  schools.  Then  consecrated  Duchess  of  Kent's 
mausoleum  ;  and  dined  at  Dean  of  Windsor's. 

August  2. — (Radley.)  Up  early  to  Communion.  Many 
letters.  Swinny  helping.  Good  opening  sermon  in  his  best 
style  from  Woodford  on  Scripture.  M'Caul  good,  and  pleas- 
ing discussion.  Thorold  preached  a  good  sermon.  Read 
Macaulay  and  sermon  at  night. 

August  3. — Up  early  to  prepare  sermon.  Preached  with 
interest.  Then  off  for  Oxford,  train  broken  down  at  Twyford. 
Lord  Herbert  dead  alas  !  alas !  what  a  breach.  O  Sin,  O 
Death . 

August  4. — (Bangor.)  Prepared  sermon,  and  read  a  little. 
Morning  service  at  Cathedral,  and  I  got  the  Bishop  to  preach 
himself.  He  preached  a  good,  plain,  earnest,  practical  sermon 
with  no  great  power.  A  happy  Communion  followed.  After- 
noon he  walked,  and  I  went  in  his  carriage  to  Beaumaris  where 
I  preached  for  S.  P.  G.  to  a  full  and  very  attentive  congrega- 
tion. Rain  came  on.  Home  and  with  the  Bishop's  family ; 
he  very  pleasing. 

August  8, — Went  to  South  Stack — a  very  striking  place  ; 
the  sea  grand,  and  the  sea-birds  so  wonderfully  tame.  Back 
and  crossed  ;  wind  high,  but  little  motion  from  length  of 
ship  ;  sailed  2.25,  and  soon  after  6  at  Kingston.  To  Dublin, 
where  late  ;  Morrisons,  Dr.  Todd,  Lady  Downe,  Stephens, 
and  Bagot  here. 

On  August  8  the  Bishop  left  England  for  a  tour 
in  Ireland  ;  of  this  tour  the  diary  preserves  some  in- 
teresting records  : — 

August  II. —  Mount  Stewart.  Up  betimes.  Prepared 
sermon  and  preached  in  morning  at  Newtownards.  A  good 
and  attentive  congregation.  A  Scotch  look  about  all.  No 
clerk.  Went  on  to  Clandeboye,  where  Dufferin,  Lady  Duf- 
ferin,  and  Emerson  Tennant  were.      Yesterday  and  to-day 


24  LIFE   OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.  chap.  I. 

much  talk  with  Londonderry.     Preached  in  afternoon  in  Lady 

Londonderry's  chapel,  on  Gehazi.     Talk  with  Mr. ;  he 

said  '  that  the  Orangemen  used  to  be  loyal,  but  having  ad- 
mitted Presbyterians  amongst  them,  the  bitter,  levelling  spirit 
of  Presbyterianism  has  spread  amongst  them,  and  they  are 
now  all  disloyal.  Lord  Dufferin  assents  as  to  their  feelings, 
but  says  they  have  so  strong  a  conviction  that  they  can  only 
stand  against  Papists  by  English  alliance  that  they  will  always 
adhere  readily  to  it.  He  says  the  Presbyterians  get  their 
best  men  to  such  a  place  as  Belfast — McCosh,  Cooke,  &c. — 
and  that  the  Church  is  very  poorly  represented.  A  Bishop 
at  once  able,  educated,  and  religious,  might  do  anything — no- 
where power  of  preaching  would  go  further.  The  people  so 
intelligent,  and  yet  impressible.  His  owni  pastor  at  Bangor 
good  and  kind  amongst  the  poor,  but  so  weak — a  Binney 
and  a  blue-nose — strange  standard  of  Churchmanship.  Good 
Lord  Roden  always  at  war  with  his  clergyman,  has  fitted  up 
a  chapel,  and  preaches  himself;  spoke  of  giving  up  his  pulpit 
to  someone.  Bishop  of  Derry  very  unpopular  with  all  classes  ; 
strange  to  say,  he  is  suspected  of  leaning  to  Roman  doctrine  ; 
really  has  wished  to  get  favour  with  Government.  Such  is 
the  feeling  of  these  Presbyterians  as  to  painted  glass  that  a 
memorial  window  being  put  up  to  the  late  Bishop  Mant  at 
Downpatrick,  the  Orangemen  brought  out  a  piece  of  ordnance 
and  shivered  it  with  shots.  Mr. ,  the  Archbishop's  pre- 
centor, tells  me  that  the  distribution  of  morals  between  the 
different  sects  is  curious.  Amongst  the  Romanists  no  truth 
or  honesty,  comparatively  little  unchastity  and  drunkenness  ; 
he  attributes  this  to  (i)  the  lower  feeding  of  the  Papists  ;  and 
he  says  that  just  as  their  food  has  improved,  these  sins  have 
increased  ;  (2)  to  early  marriages,  and  the  priests  really  keep- 
ing bad  women  to  a  great  degree  out  of  the  country  parishes. 

The  Primate  thinks  that  the  Church  is  gaining  both  on 
Papists  and  Presbyterians. 

August  26. — An  interesting  conversation  with  Dr.  Todd. 
He  sad  about  state  and  prospects  of  Irish  Church.  Some 
few  young  men  trained  at  Trinity  College  in  better  principles, 
but  these  mostly  went  to  England  ;  they  could  not  bear  the 
Irish  regime  ;  had  no  encouragement  anywhere.     The  Dublin 


1 86 1.  DR.    TODD   ON  IRISH  BISHOPS.  25 

Low  Church  Clergy  more  exclusive  than  they  were  ;  not  one 
would  let  him  preach  for  them  (so  said  also  Woodward). 
When  the  present  Provost  of  Trinity  College  was  appointed, 
Dr.  Todd  had  been  for  years  (I  think  30)  preacher.  He  did 
not  appoint  him,  but  passed  him  over  for  years.  Utter  want 
of  reverence  in  the  Church  Mission  Schools  and  tone.  So 
he  had  been  obliged  to  keep  aloof.  (This  to  a  great  degree 
true  everywhere,  from  the  controversial  tone.)  If  anything 
happened  to  the  Primate  (who  not  a  Churchman,  however, 
but  a  mere  gentleman,  and  under  influences — had  passed  the 
Bishopric  Suspension  Bill,  given  up  St.  Columba's,  &c.,  yet 
held  things  together),  and  a  bad  one  appointed,  all  over  seem- 
ingly with  Church.  '  I  see  no  hope,  unless  they  will  appoint 
you  ;  not  one  of  our  Bishops  fit'  (so  Dean  of  Limerick). 
Knox  very  foolish,  without  learning,  piety,  judgment,  conduct, 
or  sense,  appointed  by  a  job,  that  his  uncle  should  resign 
Limerick,  &c.  N.B. — The  Primate  justifies  the  Irish  Bishops 
suspension,  by  saying  a  tax  would  make  them  poor,  and  they 
would  sell  their  livings.  Todd  replied,  '  If  principle  will  not 
hinder,  wealth  won't.  The  Bishop  of  Derry,  the  richest  see, 
sells  all  his.  Derry,  perhaps,  the  best,  but  a  weak,  unread 
man.'  Dean  of  Limerick,  of  Knox  :  '  He  used,  when  made  to 
preach  by  his  uncle,  to  get  me  to  write  his  sermon,  and  could 
not  deliver  it.  The  Bishop  used  to  say,  "  Why  do  you  always 
blow  your  nose  in  the  pathetic  part.-*"  Higgins,  a  most  ap- 
propriative  mind,  would  take  what  another  had  just  said,  and 
repeat  it  ostentatiously  as  his  own,  even  to  the  sayer.'  Dr. 
Todd  :  '  Ossoiy,  the  most  indolent  man  I  ever  knew ;  used  to 
make  me  teach  his  pupils  when  in  college ;  very  strong  soli- 
fidian  views.  Cork,  a  man  of  ability ;  strong  leaning  to  Arian 
or  semi- Arian — kept  him  long  from  Priests'  Orders — a  mere 
Whatelyian  ;  but  a  strong  will,  and  overbearing ;  would  be 
very  unpopular  very  soon — is  so  now  at  Cork.  Limerick, 
clever — quite  unread^ — no  taste  for  Episcopate  ;  was  scarcely 
persuaded  to  be  made  a  Bishop.  His  living — the  best  in  Ire- 
land— was  wanted,  and  so  he  was  quite  pressed  into  accepting. 
Not  a  devout  man  at  all.  Kiluiore,  gentle  and  pleasing,  not 
learned,  and  no  backbone  to  lead.  Meatli,  nothing  but  a 
popular  preacher,  now  worn  out.     Cas/icl,  very  fond  of  money, 


26  LIFE   OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.  chap.  I. 

and  simply  a  low  party  man.  A  really  good  Primate  might 
soon  get  support.  Kilmore,  Derry,  Down  would  all  follow 
him,  and  very  likely  Cork  might  see  it  was  the  only  chance 
for  the  Church  Establishment,  and  then  he  would  join.'  Todd 
evidently  very  low  about  the  whole  matter.     Alas  !    Alas  ! 

W.  de  Vere  said  there  zverc  devout  and  holy  priests.  He 
admitted  the  priests  dare  not  press  the  Ribbon  question  in 
Confession.  The  people  would  say  it  is  not  a  sin,  and  the 
priests  would  have  to  yield. 

August  28. — Talk  yesterday  with  Henry's  ^  agent,  Mr. 
Cunningham,  an  intelligent  and — for  a  Roman — a  fair  man. 
He  spoke  highly  of  ]\Ir.  DArcy.  Sure  his  motives  were  good, 
but  there  were  very  few  adult  converts  sincere.  At  the  time 
of  the  famine  things  had  got  into  a  dreadful  state — the  land- 
lords neglected  their  tenants,  the  priests  thought  nothing 
of  their  duties.  The  famine  'just  caught  them.'  Things 
were  much  better  now.  At  that  time  the  people  were 
greatly  alienated  from  their  priests  by  their  neglect ;  they 
were  touched  with  the  liberality  and  kindness  of  the  Pro- 
testants ;  they  had  no  schools,  and  so  sent  their  children  to 
the  Protestant  schools.  He  admitted  that  very  many  of 
those  trained  in  the  schools  were  genuine  converts.  Now 
the  national  schools  supplied  what  the  people  wanted,  and 
they  would  not  send  their  children  from  them  to  the  '  Jumper'  ■* 
schools  except  for  what  they  could  get  by  doing  so.  He 
found  great  fault  with  McHale  ;  he  neglected  all  his  spiritual 
duties,  pretejided  to  be  a  great  patriot,  was  not  so  really,  but 
sought  political  power  for  himself.  The  clergy  he  sent  were 
like  himself;  he  did  not  look  after  them  in  spirituals;  they 
sought  to  commend  themselves  to  him  by  political  business, 

&c.     He  encouraged  Father in  all  his  mad  attacks  on 

Lord  Plunket.  Lord  Plunket  had  been  got  into  his  troubles 
by  the  ladies  who  said  his  lordship  would  be  pleased  if  the 
people  sent  their  children  to  the  Protestant  school,  and  then 
the  lower  people  got  hold  of  it,  and  pressed  this  on  the 
parents,  and  stirred  up  all  the  mischief.  I  asked  if  the 
priests  now  really  preached  to  the  people  about  their  souls. 

3  The  Bishop's  brother. 

*  Jumpers,  i.e.  those  who  had  jumped  from  Romanism  to  Protestantism. 


i86i.  IRISH  STORIES.  2  J 

He  said  the  younger  did.  The  young  curate  of  Kylemore, 
an  excellent  young  man,  full  of  zeal,  and  preaching  with  all 
his  heart  to  the  people.  Not  the  old  ones.  The  last  St. 
Patrick's  day  one  of  the  old  sort,  who  was  celebrating,  when 
he  came  to  the  place  for  the  sermon,  turned  round  as  if  he 
was  going  to  preach  to  the  people.  They  were  so  surprised 
that  they  crowded  up  towards  the  altar  '  to  hear  Father 
Joseph.'  '  Well,  now,  sure  it  isn't  Father  Joseph  that's  going 
to  preach  to  us  ! '  So  they  gathered  all  round,  and  the  old 
man  saw  that  he  was  in  for  it,  and  could  not  escape  from 
preaching.  So  he  stood  swinging  himself  backwards  and 
forwards,  and  began  :  *  My  brethren — this  is  St.  Patrick's 
day — St.  Patrick  was  a  great  saint.  St.  Patrick  lived  200 
years,  and  then  he  died,  and  may  God  have  mercy  on  his 
soul  ! ' — and  thereupon  he  stopped.  He  said  McHale  had 
sent  down  a  drunken  priest  into  the  next  parish  :  no  one 
could  conceive  why  they  had  chosen  such  a  man,  and  to  be 
near  the  Jumpers  too !  The  besetting  sin  of  the  priests  here 
is  drink.  They  are  generally  low  fellows — McHale  is  a  very 
coarse  low  fellow  himself.  The  horse-whipping  by  the  priests 
going  out  ;  but  about  a  fortnight  ago  at  Lord  Plunket's  the 
priest  horse-whipped  a  man  for  telling  his  child  to  go  to  the 
Protestant  school.  The  man  only  said,  '  You  have  taken  a 
dale  of  the  blue  mould  out  of  me,  your  Riverence,  by  the 
flogging.'  Cunningham  said  the  great  objection  to  the 
schools  is  that  they  will  use  the  Authorised  Version  in  them, 
which  the  Roman  Catholics  do  not  believe  to  be  an  accurate 
version  of  the  Bible. 

The  Bishop  notes  a  specimen  of  the  sharpness  of 
an  Irish  carman.     He  said  : 

The  carman  '  believed  that  all  the  Jumper  converts  were 
bought.'  The  Bishop  :  '  Did  they  try  to  convert  others  .''  Had 
they  tried  to  convert  him  ? '  '  Yes.'  '  Did  that  look  like  being 
bought  or  being  convinced  ? '  '  Bought,  likely  enough.  People 
always  want  companions  ;  if  so  much  as  a  horse  broke  into 
an  oat-field,  he  always  wanted  another  beside  him,'  &c.  &c. 

On  the  31st  the  Bishop  returned  to  Dublin  where 


28  LIFE   OF  BISHOP   WILBERFORCE.  chap.  I. 

he  was  the  truest  of  Lord  CarHsle  at  the  Vice-Reo^al 
Lodge.  A  large  party  had  assembled.  The  diary 
of  the  day  records  a  short  conversation  with  Lord 
Carlisle  : 

Lord  Carlisle,  speaking  of  Whately's  extreme  egotism, 
said  :  '  Pie  once  said  to  me,  "  The  Bishop  of  Cork  is  an  ex- 
cellent writer — an  admirable  writer,  I  have  read  sentences 
of  his  which  I  could  not  tell  I  had  not  written  myself!  "  '  He 
thinks  Whately  softened,  and  in  consequence  that  he  has 
more  influence  than  he  had. 

September  i. — Sunday.  Up  early  and  prepared  sermon. 
After  breakfast,  in  with  Lord  Lieutenant  to  the  Castle. 
Preached  from  notes  on  *  Lord,  lift  up  the  light,'  &c.  ;  a 
very  attentive  congregation,  evidently  impressed.  After 
luncheon  to  St.  Patrick's,  and  preached  to  a  crowd  \  all  most 
attentive. 

Septevibtr  3. — Letters,  and  to  S.  P.  G.  meeting.  Luncheon 
with  the  Archbishop.  He  said :  *  Best  to  be  blind  when 
young,  and  deaf  when  old.'  Whiteside  full  of  pleasant 
anecdote.  Then  saw  Trinity  College  library  and  museum. 
QiKBre,  if  the  birds  genuine  Irish.  Then  with  Lord  Lieutenant 
to  Golden  Bridge  Reformatory.  Miss  Kirwan,  Rev.  Mother. 
Much  talk.  Need  of  separating  priest's  work  and  hers — hers 
the  instruction  and  moral  government ;  very  interesting  ac- 
counts of  success  ;  always  succeeded  if,  when  they  left,  could 
get  them  to  take  the  pledge.  The  good  nurse's  whole  heart 
evidently  in  it,  and  she  clever  and  good.  Then  to  Smithfield ; 
wonderful  examination  of  the  men.  Dined.  Dr.  Todd, 
&c.,  &c. 

September  4. — Morning,  wrote  letters  hard.  Then  to  the 
model  schools  with  Lord  Carlisle.  The  performance  of  the 
boys  and  the  singing  of  the  girls  really  marvellous,  and  no 
religious  feuds  ever  known,  whilst  the  good  lady,  who  from 
the  first  has  friended  and  watches  them,  never  knew  a  girl  go 
wrong  after.  In  the  afternoon  to  St.  Columba's  with  Lord 
Lieutenant  ;  very  nice,  but  small.  After  dinner  we  took 
leave  of  our  most  kind  host. 

September  5. — Off   in   Lord    Lieutenant's   carriage   at   a 


i86i.  LORD  CARLISLE'S  DIARY. 


29 


quarter  to  six.  Crossed,  and  really  enjoyed  it.  The  Irish 
coast  died  out  in  the  finest  purple  and  golden  colours.  The 
Isle  of  Man  and  Scotland  and  Wales  all  visible  together. 

At  this  point  Lord  Carlisle's  diary  furnishes  an 
interesting  extract  ^  : — 

September  i. — The  Bishop  preached  in  the  Castle  chapel 
admirably.  It  was  on  the  incompleteness  of  everything  here. 
I  never  knew  him  put  forward  more  power.  He  preached 
only  from  notes.  It  was  a  sermon  that  could  not  leave  one 
quite  what  it  found  one.  Went  to  hear  him  again  at  St. 
Patrick's,  for  the  Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel, 
and  less  striking.  He  was  much  better  to-day,  and  very 
agreeable.  He  talked  of  the  tenderness  of  nature  he  had  found 
in  Lord  Aberdeen  and  Sir  Robert  Peel  under  cold  husks. 
When  the  Bishop  was  much  attacked  about  the  Hampden 
transactions,  Peel  made  him  explain  it  all,  then  told  him  not 
to  mind  it.  '  How  I  have  been  attacked  ! '  with  much  emotion. 
He  thinks  Dr.  Villiers's  death  was  very  mainly  brought  about 
by  the  attacks  on  him  about  Cheese.  He  told  a  characteristic 
speech  of  the  Bishop  of  Exeter's.  A  lady,  to  whom  he  was 
showing  his  place  at  Torquay,  bored  him  by  indiscriminate 
praise.  At  last  she  said,  '  And  it  is  so  Swiss  ! ' — '  Oh,  very 
Swiss ;  only  there  are  no  mountains  here,  and  there  is  no  sea 
in  Switzerland  ! '  Dean  Graves  and  Mr.  Maturin  (well  known 
to  the  Bishop)  dined  with  us. 

The  Rev.  W.  Plunket,  nephew  of  the  Bishop  of 
Tuam,  had  accompanied  the  Bishop  on  his  tour  in 
Connemara.  It  is  interesting  to  observe  the  impres- 
sion made  upon  the  Bishop's  mind  by  missionary  enter- 
prise which  was  being  carried  on  In  that  district. 
After  returning  to  England  the  Bishop  writes  to  Mr. 
Plunket : — 

September  13,  1861. 

My  dear  Mr.  Plunket, — You  are  so  kind  as  to  ask  me 
concerning  my  impressions  from  what  I  saw  in  Connemara. 
Plrst,  let  me  say  in  reply  that  I  was  most  deeply  interested 

*  Privately  printed. 


30  LIFE   OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.  chap.  i. 

in  what  I  saw  ;  and  secondly,  that  in  much  that  I  -saw  I 
traced,  as  I  beheve,  real  and  effectual  work  done  for  God. 
With  the  Orphanage  at  Clifden  I  was  delighted.  The  love 
which  reigned  in  it  under  the  influence  of  Mr.  D'Arcy  and 
the  care  of  Miss  Gore,  and  which  pervaded  every  part  of  its 
arrangements  and  every  countenance  of  its  inmates,  was  re- 
freshing to  witness.  Everywhere  I  thought  the  schools  very 
efficient,  and  the  young  people  remarkable  for  their  intelli- 
gent acquaintance  with  the  Word  of  God,  The  intelligence 
and  zeal  and  self-devotion  of  the  great  body  of  the  Bible 
teachers  whom  I  saw  in  Clifden  seemed  to  me  remarkable. 

If,  having  said  this,  I  venture  to  throw  in  any  darker  lines, 
it  is,  first,  from  the  requirements  of  truth,  and  secondly,  be- 
cause, as  a  new  eye  often  takes  in  suddenly  the  forms  of 
objects  which  to  those  who  see  them  always  have  become  too 
familiar  to  be  noticed,  it  is  possible  that  such  remarks  may 
not  be  without  their  practical  value  to  you. 

First,  then,  I  noticed  a  tone  of  controversy — and  aggres- 
sive controversy — running  through  the  movement,  the  effect 
of  which  I  should  greatly  fear.  It  is  hard  to  retain  love  and 
reverence  in  hot  controversy ;  and  when  boys  at  school  are 
trained  in  it,  the  difficulty  so  greatly  increases.  Then  with 
this  there  seemed  to  be,  both  in  the  boys  and  in  the  Scripture- 
readers,  often  a  tone  of  hostility  against  Romanists.  This,  in 
Ireland,  I  should  especially  deprecate,  the  evil  of  the  land 
being  fierce  religious  hostility.  Secondly,  I  thought  there  was 
a  tendency  to  speak  of  Romanism  as  another  religion  from 
ours,  instead  of  treating  it  as  being  God's  very  revelation 
disfigured  with  errors  of  a  most  grave  nature.  Thirdly,  in 
attacking  Rome  I  saw  a  tendency  to  attack  great  verities  of 
the  Church  of  Christ,  because  those  verities,  disfigured,  formed 
special  parts  of  the  Roman  system,  e.g.  '  We  want  no  priest 
but  Jesus,'  &c.  You  will,  I  dare  say,  remember  our  conver- 
sation touching  that  hymn.  Now,  I  am  convinced  that  if  we 
are  at  once  to  win  our  people  from  Rome,  and  keep  them 
believers,  we  must  make  our  stand  on  our  being  the  Church 
of  Christ  in  Ireland — that  we  have  the  authority  of  the 
Church,  the  Divinely-appointed  Ministry,  the  Word  and  Doc- 
trine to  be  kept  by  it,  the  Sacraments  to  be  ministered  by  it, 


i86i.  A   REQUEST  FOR  A   SERMON.  3 1 

the  Creeds  to  be  taught  by  it.  Thus  assaih'ng  Rome,  we 
maintain,  and  do  not  shake,  the  foundations  of  the  City  of 
God;  we  accustom  our  people  to  believe  that  they  are  in 
a  Divinely-appointed  supernatural  system  of  spiritual  influ- 
ences, and  we  can  show  them  the  corruptions  of  Rome  Avithout 
endangering  their  practical  belief  in  Revelation.     I  am,  my 

dear  Mr.  Plunket,  most  truly  yours,  ^    „ 

^  "^  S.  OXON. 

September  7. — Off  at  7.30,  and  to  Slough,  where  conse- 
cration of  Chalvey  church,  and  dinner  after  in  a  barn,  with 
speeches.  Then  by  rail  to  London  and  Lavington.  Very  sad  ; 
many  birthday  thoughts  and  prayers  ;  no  Basil  or  letter. 

September  21. — (Lavington).  All  day  about  Ordination; 
resolved  to  pass  all  the  candidates.  Morning,  addressed  on 
St.  Matthew's  call.  Evening,  charge — the  employment  of 
present,  calm,  meditation,  waiting,  prayer.  The  ministry — its 
demands,  dangers,  supports,  blessings. 

September  22. — The  Ordination  at  Lavington,  and 
singularly  solemn.  Swinny's  sermon  excellent,  and  Norris's 
(afternoon)  also.  Walk  on  hill  with  a  few,  the  day  being 
sadly  wet. 

■  The  well-known  kindly  and  accomplished  clergy- 
man Dr.  Monsell,  Vicar  of  Egham,  had  asked  for  a 
sermon.  The  Bishop's  answer,  dated  September  29, 
was  written  by  the  Rev.  John  Lawrell.  The  Bishop 
could  not  preach,  on  account  of  his  many  engagements, 
but  he  told  Mr.  Lawrell  to  add  a  postscript  to  the 
effect  that  he,  Lawrell,  would  preach  instead  of  the 
Bishop. 

Hereupon  Dr.  Monsell  sent  a  characteristic  re- 
monstrance : 

That  your  Laurels  are  plenty,  my  Lord, 

No  one  doubts  for  a  moment,  but  then 
I  never  till  yesterday  heard 

That  a  Lawrell  you  used  as  a  pen. 
Your  Scribe,  thinking  how  he  would  sup 

On  his  Michaelmas  dainties,  I  ween, 
Believed  he  was  '  stuffing  me  up,' 

And  supposed  me  a  goose  that  was  green. 


32  LIFE   OF  BISHOP   WILBERFORCE.  chap.  I. 

My  Lord,  might  I  say  a  sharp  word 

To  that  Scribe,  but  it  ne'er  shall  be  told 
That  I  foolishly  *  cut  up '  the  bird 

That  might  lay  for  me  eggs  that  were  gold. 

What  I  want  is  your  Lordship  to  lay 

(Don't  mistake  me,  I  beg,  for  a  minute) 
Not  eggs,  but  your  plans  for  the  day 

When  you'll  come  to  my  Church  and  preach  in  it. 

We're  in  debt,  but,  my  Lord,  I  must  peach. 

You're  in  debt,  a  good  sermon  or  two, 
With  interest,  so  pray  come  and  preach. 

And  we'll  then  be  indebted  to  you. 

As  a  debtor  yourself,  understand, 

Why  to  gain  you  I  make  such  a  push. 
To  me  one  good  Bishop  in  hand 

Were  worth  all  we  now  have  in  '  the  Bush,' 

To  which  the  Bishop  rephed  : 

With  your  lines,  Dr.  Monsell,  on  Lawrell, 

Believe  me,  I've  no  fault  to  find, 
Nor  could  think  for  a  moment  of  quarrel 

With  one  so  facetious  and  kind. 

Of  your  muse — I  say  heartily — Floreat, 

Your  office  your  letter  defines, 
You  surely  must  be  Egg — Ham — Laureat 

From  your  freshness,  your  salt,  and  your  lines. 

My  sermons  are  not  worth  your  verse. 

At  Brighton  for  twopence  they  one  sell, 
But  if  one  will  replenish  your  purse 

It  is  yours,  it  is  yours.  Dr.  Monsell. 

It  thus  appears  that  Dr.  Monsell's  verse  prevailed  more 
than  his  prose.     The  Bishop  preached  for  him. 

The  following,  taken  from  the  diary,  affords  addi- 
tional proof  of  the  incessant  toil  of  the  Bishop,  and  the 
way  he  moved  from  place  to  place  : — 

October  i6,  he  started  from  London  for  Wolverton  ; 
on  the  I  /th  he  preached  at  Wolverton  ;  and  on  the  i8th, 


1 86 1.  DIARY  IN  THE  NORTH.  33 

after  preaching  and  school-opening,  went  on  to  Rugby. 
Next  morning  he  was  at  Derby,  where  he  preached  to 
2,000  workmen  of  the  Midland  Railway  Company; 
'  they  intensely  attentive  ; '  then  back  to  Tamworth 
and  out  to  Ingestre  with  Lord  Shrewsbury.  The  20th, 
'  prepared  sermon  for  Lichfield  '  in  the  morning ;  in  the 
afternoon  drove  to  Colwich  and  preached  to  a  great 
congregation.  The  21st,  the  Bishop  of  Lichfield  came 
to  breakfast,  and  together  they  went  to  Kingcote, 
where  the  church  was  consecrated  and  the  Bishop 
preached.  Then  off  to  Lichfield.  The  22nd:  *  Up 
early  and  finished  sermon.  Cathedral  excellent,  services 
striking.  Then  luncheon.  Lord  Lichfield  presiding. 
Then  at  afternoon  service  I  preached ;  a  good  deal 
tired  with  the  effort;  vast  numbers.'  The  23rd: 
*  After  breakfast  and  service  in  Cathedral,  off  with 
Bishopof  Lichfield  to  Derby.  S.  P.  G.  meeting.  Full,  &c. 
Again  I  tired.'  24th  :  *  Early  breakfast,  and  in  with 
Lord  Vernon,  Duke  of  Devonshire,  Lord  Lichfield,  &c. 
&c.  to  Derby.  Preached.  Large  congregation  and 
collection.  On  the  25th,  the  Bishop  went  to  an  S.P.G. 
meeting.  The  26th  :  '  After  breakfast,  wrote  a  little. 
Then  off  for  York.  Very  much  tired  at  night.  Read- 
ing and  thinking  about  Oxford  sermon.'  Here  he  was 
the  guest  of  the  Archbishop  at  Bishopthorpe.  27th 
(Sunday)  :  '  In,  after  breakfast,  to  York.  Preached  at 
Minster.  Very  large  congregation.  Largest  collection 
they  had  ever  had;  about  j'^l.  for  S.P.G.  Back  to 
Bishopthorpe.  Sleepy  ekeic  at  afternoon  service  ;  iimst 
eat  no  luncheon  on  Sunday.  Walked  with  Archbishop 
five  miles.  Much  talk  on  Convocation.  Letters  and 
read.'^     The  next  day  :  '  Up  in  good  time.     Wrote  a 

'"'  The  I'ishop  appears  to  have  forgotten  one  of  his  sermons  on  this  day,  as 
Canon  Trevor  writes  :  '  lie  preached  for  the  S.P.G.  in  1  he  morning  at  the  Minster. 
In  the  evening  you  might  have  walked  on  the  people's  heads  in  my  church,  at  a 

VOL.  III.  D 


34  LIFE  OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.  chap.  I. 

little.  With  Archbishop  to  York  for  S.P.G.  ;  a  good 
meeting,  and  I  helped,  D.  G.  Walked  out  home  with 
the  Archbishop.'  29  :  '  Wrote  a  good  deal  of  sermon  for 
Oxford.  Rode  with  the  Archbishop  in  the  afternoon.' 
■}f>:  'In  to  York  for  Wilberforce  Blind,  after  early 
work  at  sermon ;  a  capital  meeting,  and  I  helped 
again,  D.G.  Afterwards  to  luncheon  at  Deanery  and 
Minster.  Walked  out  with  Lascelles  and  Bishop  of 
Kilmore.'  The  31st,  he  left  Bishopthorpe,  writing  his 
Oxford  sermon  all  day  in  train  viA  Manchester  to 
Shrewsbury. 

Nov.  I. — Up  early  at  sermon,  and  a  grand  gathering  at 
the  service.  Archdeacons  Moore  and  Allen,  and  a  hundred 
clergy.     Great  luncheon  ;  Lords  Powis,  Dungannon,  &c. 

Nov.  2. — Stormy  night ;  Caradoc,  &c.,  all  mantled  in 
snow,  and  looking  really  magnificent.  Drove  to  Shrewsbury. 
Good  meeting  for  S.P.G. ;  with  Dr.  Kennedy,  and  off  for 
Oxford.  Finished  sermon  in  train.  Dined  and  slept  at  Prin- 
cipal's of  Jesus. 

Nov.  3  (Sunday). — Merton  service;  Confirmation  and 
Celebration  early.  Thence  to  St.  Mary's ;  great  gathering  ; 
preached  with  interest.  After  service  saw  people.  To  Merton, 
and  preached  for  choir.     Dined  at  Principal's. 

Nov.  4. — Cathedral.  Then  Poor  Benefice  Society — long 
business.  Rode  out  to  Cuddesdon  with  C.  Barter  ;  large 
party — Bishop  of  Salisbury,  &c. 

Nov.  5. — Rode  in  to  Oxford.  Wet.  Dined  at  Angel 
Hotel,  and  to  meeting.  Good  meeting.  Henley  spoke  out. 
Out  to  Cuddesdon.     Same  party. 

Nov.  6. — In  early  (Oxford),  Merton  service.  Bishop  of 
Salisbury  preached— nicely.  Meeting  in  Hall,  and  then  off 
to  London.     On  to  Shardeloes. 

Nov.  7. — Up  early  and  prepared  sermon.     Then  wrote 

sermon  for  the  Wilberforce  Blind  School,  and  next  day  he  was  dining  with  our 
poor  Clothing  Club,  helping  the  old  women,  changing  their  plates,  and  telling 
stories  till  all  were  in  a  broad  grin,  which  changed  to  floods  of  tears,  when  he  got 
up  and  after  a  few  touching  words  gave  them  his  blessing  and  left.' 


i86i.  DIARY.  35 

letters.  Coleshill  Church  consecrated  ;  all  went  well,  D.G. 
Church  nice  and  attendance  and  services.  Rode  after  lun- 
cheon with  T.  T.  Drake  and  E.  Drake  and  Lloyd  to  Chalfont ; 
saw  chancel  nicely  restored.     Back  to  Shardeloes. 

On  Friday  the  8th  the  Bishop,  after  his  morning 
letters,  rode  through  Wycombe  to  Shirburn  Castle '^ 
where  he  met  a  large  party  of  neighbouring  clergy  at 
dinner.     The  Diary  records — '  Tired — very — at  night.' 

Nov.  9. — Up  early.  Prepared  sermon  and  wrote  letters, 
preached  and  celebrated.  Rode  after  luncheon  to  Cud- 
desdon.     Drove  in  to  Oxford — to  Warden  of  All  Souls. 

Nov.  10  (Sunday). — Up  early.  Preached  at  Carfax  : 
morning,  an  old  sermon  on  missions.  Walked  with  Warden, 
&c.  Prepared  evening  sermon  (new)  on  Unprofitable  Servant. 
Great  congregation  ;  and  preached  with  interest. 

Nov.  II. — Off  by  8.15  for  Banbury.  To  Great  Barford 
and  preached  on  Woman  touching  Hem  of  Garment.  Then 
walked  &c. ;  back.     Many  to  dinner.     I  intensely  tired. 

Nov.  12. — Freshened  ;  and  in  to  Banbury.  Preached  at 
St.  John's — *  Let  both  grow  together.'  Then  opened  schools, 
and  on  to  Wroxton  ;  walked.  Looked  at  books  in  library  too 
long.    Wrote. 

Nov.  13. — Off,  at  8.50,  to  London;  very  wet  and  cold; 
to  26  Pall  Mall  and  wrote.  Then  to  Literary  Fund.  University 
Assurance.  South  African  Mission,  and  down  to  Aylesbury. 
Late  to  bed.     Tired. 

Nov.  14. — Breakfast ;  church  10.30.  Wrote  with  Cust.^ 
]\Ieeting  of  societies.  Disraeli  spoke  for  an  hour  on  Church  ; 
clever  electioneering  speech  to  Clergy  and  Church.  On  by 
rail ;  wrote,  &c.  ;  and  by  Derby  to  Chatsworth.  Lords 
Carlisle,  Belper,  C.  Cavendish  ;  Gladstone,  &c. 

Nov.  15. — Morning,  walked  with  Gladstone,  Lord  Carlisle, 
Duke,  &c.,  to  conservatory  and  grounds.  Conservatory  in 
great  beauty.  Then  over  House  with  ladies.  Then  rode  with 
Gladstone,  Duke,  and  Lord  Carlisle.  Oak  tree  on  fire ;  and 
Gladstone's  characteristic  energy  displayed  in  putting  it  out. 
All  the  sons  here  and  pleasant. 

^  Lord  Macclesfield's.  *  Now  Dean  of  York. 

D  2 


36  LIFE   OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.  chap.  I. 

From  Chatsworth  the  Bishop  writes  to  Dean 
Trench  : — 

*  I  am  here  till  to-morrow  in  this  great  English  palace ; 
and  very  cheering  it  is  to  see  so  good  a  man  as  the  present 
Duke  in  such  a  post.  The  Gladstones,  Lord  Carlisle,  &c., 
are  with  us  ;  so  you  may  guess  that  we  are  well  off.  Next 
week  the  Bishops  of  Chichester  and  Rochester,  &c.,  come  to 
me  after  a  meeting  in  our  theatre,  at  which  Gladstone  is  to 
speak,  Friday  morning.  Could  you  come  down  for  a  day  or 
two's  leisure  }  I  fear  at  Xmas  it  will  be  work,  as  we  have  an 
unusually  large  Ordination.' 

Nov.  1 6. — Off  directly  after  breakfast,  by  Chesterfield. 
Very  cold  and  snowy.  Over  the  high  ridge,  and  so  on  to 
Worksop  and  Worksop  Manor,  where  luncheon.  The  Speaker 
came  in,  and  we  rode  together  by  Welbeck,  and  then  Sher- 
wood Forest,  a  grand  ride  ;  but  night  overtook  us,  and  snow 
and  slippery  ground.  At  Ollerton  got  into  a  fly  and  drove 
to  Ossington.  A  hearty  welcome  from  Lady  C.  Denison. 
Mr.  Adams  (American  Minister),  Lady  L.  Percy,  Lord 
Stratford  de  Redcliffe,  &c. 

Nov.  I J  (Sunday). — Mr. preached  a  dull,   orthodox 

discourse.  Afternoon,  I  preached.  After  afternoon  service 
walked  to  new  chapel  built  by  Glutton  ;  a  nice  chapel.  Some 
talk  with  Adams. 

Nov.  19. — Thaw.  With  the  Speaker  early  to  Notting- 
ham.    Poor  Mr. rather  foolish,  and  the  Speaker  rather 

unmerciful.     I  preached,  and  all  seemed  interested.^ 

*  The  following,  in  response  to  an  appeal  of  mine  in  'The  Guardian,'  was 
communicated  by  a  gentleman  who  was  present  on  the  occasion. — Ed.  : — 

'  The  Bishop  of  Oxford  preached  at  Basford  near  Nottingham  on  the  re- 
opening of  the  Parish  Church  after  a  restoration.  Basford  is  a  populous,  but  not 
wealthy,  manufacturing  village  and  suburb  of  Nottingham,  where  are  large  factories 
and  bleach-works.  Concluding  his  sermon,  the  Bishop  alluded  to  these  in  some- 
thing like  these  words  :  "  I  observe  in  this  place  great  signs  of  active  prosperity. 
Your  modern  factory-chimneys  overtop  the  height  of  the  tower  of  this  ancient 
House  of  Prayer.  I  am  told  that  there  still  remains  a  debt  of  500/.  on  account 
of  the  restoration.  Will  you,  that  are  surrounded  by  such  substantial  evidences  of 
material  wealth  as  your  mills  and  factories,  tell  me  that  j'ou  will  go  away  to-day 
and  leave  this  debt  unliquidated?"     (A  pause.)     "  I  don't— believe  it." 

'  No  one  could  have  conveyed  more  force  to  the  words  than  the  Bishop  did. 

*  The  result  was  satisfactory,  for  at  a  lunch  after  the  service,  at  which  the 


MISSIONARY  BISHOPS. 


37 


Nov.  20. — Off  directly  after  breakfast  and  by  rail  to 
Oxford,  working  hard  all  the  time  at  Confirmation  list. 

The  following  letters  passed  between  the  Bishop 
and  Mr.  Gladstone  on  the  old  subject  of  the  Missionary 
Bishops  Bill.  The  Bill  again  failed  to  pass  into  law  ; 
bnt  the  object  for  which  it  was  immediately  necessary, 
namely,  the  consecration  of  Mr.  Staley,  was  obtained 
in  another  way.  A  licence  was  obtained  for  the  con- 
secration, of  which  the  Bishop,  writing  to  Mr.  Glad- 
stone on  December  ii,  says:  'The  licence  does  not 
commit  us  to  any  wrong  principle,  and  I  think  it  may 
be  acted  on  next  Sunday.' 

The  Bishop  of  Oxford  to  the  Right  Hon. 
W.  E.  Gladstone. 

July  7,  1 86 1. 
My  dear  Gladstone, —  I  hope  you  will  see  to  this  Mis- 
sionary Bishops  Bill.  I  gather  from  what  Lord  Shaftesbury 
said  to  me,  and  I  understand,  that  the  real  opposition  is  from 
Lord  Shaftesbury  and  the  Church  Missionary  Society,  Now, 
really  this  is  a  matter  which  intimately  concerns  the  whole 
liberties  of  the  English  Church.  Why  are  we  not  to  be  at 
liberty  to  head  our  missions  with  a  Bishop,  merely  because 
the  Act  of  Uniformity  requires  the  use  of  our  service ;  in  a 
rubric  of  which  (meant  for  another  purpose)  the  production 
of  the  Queen's  licence  is  required.  All  the  Bishops  were 
agreed  in  this  ;  we  ivant  the  power  at  once  to  fill  up  the 
Zambesi  Bishopric,  and  to  consecrate  for  the  Orange  River 
territory.  There  is  a  keen  feeling  on  the  subject  throughout 
the  Church,  and  it  is  one  of  those  questions  of  liberty  for 
which  we  look  anxiously  for  some  help  from  your  presence 

Speaker  (Mr.  Denison)  was  present,  an  old  gentleman  named  Herbert,  an  Alder- 
man of  Nottingham,  got  up  and  said  that  in  early  life  he  was  connected  with 
Basford,  and  all  who  heard  him  would  know  that  he  was  a  Dissenter,  an  Indepen- 
dent. But  the  Bishop  had  informed  them  that  after  the  collection  at  church  260/. 
was  still  wanted.  He  hoped  that,  as  the  Bishop  said,  they  would  not  go  away 
and  leave  it  unpaid.  He  then  proposed  a  plan  by  which  this  could  be  done  (him- 
self giving  liberally).  105/.  was  collected  in  the  room,  and  the  debt  was  sooa 
after  paid  off. 


38  LIFE  OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.  chap.  i. 

in  a  Cabinet  which  needs  some  sets-off  for  all  our  high  ap- 
pointments being  given  to  those  who  have,  and  because  they 
have,  rejected  the  principles  of  our  Church.  I  am  always 
very  affectionately  yours,  0   Ovnx" 

P.S. —  Yon  have  always  objected  to  the  Jerusalem 
Bishoprics  Bill,  and  on  that  we  must  be  thrown  if  Shaftesbury 
triumphs. 

The  Bishop  of  Oxfo7^d  to  the  Right  Hon. 
W.  E.  Gladstone. 

Oxford,  November  6,  l86i. 

My  dear  Gladstone, — I  w-ant  you  to  know  what  has  been 
going  on  about  the  Bishopric  for  the  Sandwich  Islands.  The 
Bishop  of  London,  who  professes  to  disbelieve  in  the  power 
of  Episcopacy  without  Prelacy,  has  consistently  opposed  every 
attempt  %ve  have  made  to  extend  our  Missionary  Episcopate, 
and  has  sought  to  bind  our  poor  Church  in  new  fetters.^  In 
consequence  of  his  opposition  to  the  consecration  of  Bishop 
Mackenzie,  we  got  the  opinion  of  the  law  officers  as  to  the 
legality  of  the  Colonial  Bishops  consecrating  for  service  out 
of  Her  Majesty's  dominions.  The  opinion  was  distinct  that 
they  were  under  no  prohibition.  Then  arose  the  question 
were  %ve — and  a  second  opinion  was  obtained  by  Lord  Pal- 
merston  at  our  request — w^hich  stated  that  there  was  no  legal 
impediment  to  oitr  consecrating,  but  added  (note  this,  please) 
a  recommendation  that  we  should  not  do  so.  This  w'as  signed 
by  Bethell,  Atherton,  and  Harding.  The  King  of  Hawaii 
applied  to  the  Queen  and  to  the  Archbishop  to  consecrate 
and  send  out  a  Bishop  to  plant  in  his  islands  a  branch  of  our 
Church.  The  Archbishop  consented  to  consecrate  an  excel- 
lent man  ;    Mr.  Staley  was  selected.      The  Archbishop  said  : 

'  It  is  only  fair  to  the  Bishop  of  London  to  state  that  two  months  later  his 
views  upon  this  especial  point  underwent  considerable  modifications,  for  on 
December  1 1  he  thus  writes  to  the  Bishop  :  '  I  have  been  so  much  misrepresented 
with  reference  to  this  matter,  as  I  think  Bishop  Staley  will  convince  you,  that  I 
do  not  wish  to  mix  myself  up  with  it  more  than  necessary ;  but  still,  if  I  can 
co-operate  with  you  in  smoothing  difficulties,  I  shall  be  very  glad.  Since  the 
receipt  of  your  letter  I  have  endeavoured  to  find  out  all  I  could  as  to  the  possi- 
bility of  meeting  your  wishes. ' 


iS6r.  LICENCE  FOR  HONOLULU.  39 

'  You  may  consider  yourself  Bishop-designate  of  Honolulu.' 
The  King  was  informed,  and  he  fixed  that  the  first  act  the 
new  Bishop  should  do  was  to  receive  publicly  his  eldest  son 
into  the  Church.  The  Bishop  was  further  to  be  his  preceptor. 
Funds  were  raised  ;  the  American  Church  consented  to  support 
two  clergy  under  our  Bishop,  and  everything  promised  a  real 
move.  The  Archbishop  named  next  Sunday  for  the  con- 
secration. The  Bishops  of  Chichester,  Oxford,  and  Labuan 
were  to  unite  in  the  act,  when  the  Bishop  of  London  woke 
up  to  his  old  opposition,  sent  Travers  Twiss  to  the  Lord 
Chancellor,  and  got  him  to  send  a  message  to  the  Archbishop, 
stating,  I.  That  in  giving  the  opinion  that  there  was  no  legal 
hindrance,  &c.,  he  always  meant,  if  the  Queen  had  granted  her 
licence.  Of  course  this  is  absolutely  incompatible  with  the 
recommendation  that  we  should  not  use  our  powers,  in  that 
opinion,  as  he  could  not  mean  to  recommend  the  not  acting 
on  the  Queen's  licence  ;  2.  The  Lord  Chancellor  earnestly 
entreated  the  Archbishop  not  to  proceed  till  a  new  inquiry 
had  been  ordered  by  the  Treasury,  and  a  new  opinion  ob- 
tained. 

The  good  old  man  has  been  so  moved  by  this  that  he 
has  postponed  sine  die  the  consecration.  The  Bishop  of 
London  presses  proceeding  under  the  Jerusalem  Bishopric 
Act,  to  which,  of  course,  I  simply  refuse  to  go  because  it 
proceeds  on  the  most  vicious  fallacy  of  assuming  that  the 
Queen  has  spiritual  power  external  to  her  dominions  and 
jurisdiction  by  it.  Thus  far,  then,  the  obstructiveness  of  un- 
belief in  our  Church's  divine  power  has  triumphed.  But  the 
Archbishop  feels  that  for  himself,  for  Staley,  for  the  donors  to 
the  fund  begun  under  his  sanction,  and  for  the  Hawaian  King, 
he  has  gone  too  far  to  retract ;  and  he  tells  Mr.  Staley  that 
the  matter  must  not  be  finally  dropped,  and  that  he  is  about 
to  write  to  Lord  Russell  to  ask  him  to  grant  a  Royal  Licence 
for  the  consecration.  Now,  though  it  would  be  far  better  that 
we  proceeded  simply  by  our  own  spiritual  power,  there  would 
be  no  great  harm  in  such  a  licence,  and  it  would  be  far  better 
than  either  stopping  the  matter  now,  which,  beside  all  other 
evils,  would  be  a  terrible  humiliation  of  our  position  in  the 
face  of  her  enemies,  or  than  having  recourse  to  the  wretched 


40  LIFE   OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.  chap,  i 

Jerusalem  Act.  I  know  not  whether  you  can  or  will  think  it 
well  to  use  any  influence  with  Lord  Russell  to  back  the  Arch- 
bishop's application.  But  I  much  wish  you  to  have  the  whole 
case  before  you.  I  am  very  glad  to  have  so  good  a  report  of 
you  from  the  Bishop  of  Salisbury.     I  am,  ever  affectiouately 

>'°"^S'  S.  OXON. 

The  Rizht  Hon.  W.  E.  Gladstone  to  the 
Bishop  of  Oxford. 

Hawarden,  November  7,  1S61. 

My  dear  Bishop  of  Oxford, — I  have  received  ycur  in- 
teresting and  very  painful  letter  respecting  the  obstacles  to 
the  consecration  of  a  bishop  for  the  Sandwich  Islands.  I  do 
not  think  it  would  be  expedient  for  me  to  volunteer  any 
representation  to  Lord  Russell  again  on  the  subject  of  that 
Bishopric  :  he  knows  my  feeling  from  prior  communications, 
and  I  also  think  he  will  be  well  disposed  to  a  request  from 
Lambeth.  We  have  a  Cabinet  on  Wednesday,  and  if  the 
subject  is  mentioned,  I  shall  be  ready.  Meantime,  I  think 
the  thing  really  to  be  anxious  about  is  that  yotir  ground 
should  be  held,  and  that  there  should  be  no  recourse  to  tliat 
most  discreditable  Act  of  1841  ;  for  such  it  is,  to  a  Legisla- 
ture which  passed  the  Ecclesiastical  Titles  Bill.  I  conclude 
that  if  further  difficulty  is  interposed  the  matter  will  go  to 
the  Colonial  Bishops. 

Thank  God,  I  am  very  well.  I  wish  I  could  hear  of  your 
enjoying  and  profiting  by  a  cessation  from  labour.  I  remain, 
affectionately  yours,  ^^    ^    GLADSTONE. 

At  a  meeting-  held  on  November  28  to  promote  a 
memorial  to  Lord  Herbert  of  Lea,  the  Bishop  of  Ox- 
ford had  taken  a  prominent  part.  To  this,  Lord 
Ailesbury  refers  : — 

December  3,  1861. 

My  dear  Lord, — I  need  not  tell  you  with  what  interest 
wc  read  of  all  that  passed  at  that  meeting  last  Thursday. 
But  I  must  beg  you  to  allow  me  to  thank  you  on  behalf  of 
Lady  Ailesbury  and  myself,  for  your  beautiful  and  eloquent 


1 86 1.  THE  PRINCE   CONSORTS  DEATH.  4 1 

tribute  to  Sidney  Herbert's  merits.  Thanks  to  the  many 
true  friends  present,  every  trait  of  his  character  was  suc- 
cessively placed  before  the  world  in  the  most  eloquent  and 
touching  light  ;  and,  I  need  scarcely  add,  by  none  more 
brilliantly  than  by  you.  Pray  accept  our  grateful  thanks, 
and  believe  me  always,  my  dear  Lord,  yours  very  sincerely, 

AlLESBURY. 

December  15. — Off  at  7.5  by  train  from  Reading.  News 
of  Prince's  death  at  1 1  last  night.  Alas  !  alas  !  Miserere, 
Doniine.  Then  to  Lambeth.  Consecration  of  Staley,  and 
on  to  Reading ;  enormous  assembly,  and  I  much  interested. 
At  night  many  thoughts  and  prayers  for  poor  Queen. 

The  above  entry  records  the  consecration  of  Mr. 
Staley  to  the  See  of  Honolulu.  He  was  the  first 
Missionary  Bishop  consecrated  in  England.  This  the 
Bishop  had  laboured  hard  to  bring  about.  The  Bishop 
had  occasion  to  speak  at  Reading  in  reply  to  a  vote  of 
thanks.  Referring  to  the  religious  crisis  at  the  period 
when  he  was  speaking,  he  said  : — 

The  worst  feature  of  the  present  day  was  the  freedom  as 
to  the  way  of  treating  Christianity  prevalent  among  those  who 
professed  Christianity.  The  tendency  was,  of  course,  among 
other  ways,  to  be  met  with  dogma  and  argument  ;  but 
there  was  a  shorter  way  ;  there  was  a  way  which,  if  possible, 
at  least  when  it  was  joined  to  that,  was  more  effectual.  It 
was  the  dissolving  of  the  cobwebs  of  sophistry  by  the  reality 
of  Christian  life.  If  they  would  preserve  the  inheritance  of 
the  faith  which  they  had  received,  and  would  hand  it  down  to 
their  children  in  its  magnificence,  they  must  not  only  argue 
the  faith,  but  must  live  the  faith.  Emphatically  that 
was  the  case  with  regard  to  the  spread  of  the  Gospel. 
Many  evidences  of  Christianity  must  grow  fainter  as  ages 
advance  ;  they  were  remoter  from  the  possibility  of  proving 
the  facts  upon  which  their  faith  rested.  Each  generation,  as 
it  handed  down  its  tradition  to  its  successor,  removed  the 
successor  further  from  the  original  facts  themselves  ;  but  God's 


42  LIFE   OF  BISHOP    VVILBERFORCE.  chap.  I. 

Providence  had  appointed  that,  as  one  evidence  diminished 
there  was  the  other  which  should  increase  in  weight  ;  and 
this  so  pre-eminently  that  Christianity  shall  spread,  shall  be 
progressive,  shall  be  perpetually  upon  the  crest  of  the  wave 
of  thought  and  civilisation,  achieving,  with  each  coming  gene- 
ration, new  triumphs,  and  so  proving  the  original  truth  which 
gives  her  her  force.  At  this  moment  there  was  no  single 
branch  of  belief  which  was  spreading  over  the  whole  world 
except  Christianity,  and  that  not  the  shadowy,  the  unreal, 
the  foggy  and  the  misty  Christianity  which  some  would  have 
them  assume,  but  a  Christianity  which  was  based  upon  a 
distinct  dogma  of  the  faith,  and  connected  with  the  distinct 
discipline  of  the  Christian  Church.  Mahometanism  (as  had 
been  remarked)  was  peculiarly  fitted  for  certain  conditions  of 
the  Oriental  mind,  and  it  had  therefore  a  tendency  to  spread 
among  the  Hindoo  nation.  They  learnt  from  history  that 
Mahometanism  had  not  advanced  for  centuries  ;  but  not  so 
with  the  Christian  faith.  This  faith  was  fitted,  as  they  all  knew, 
by  its  conquests,  for  the  east  as  well  as  the  west,  for  the  north 
as  well  as  the  south,  and  the  advancing  wave  was  a  perpetual 
living  testimony  which  God  had  permitted  to  the  truth  of  that 
mighty  system  which  achieves  such  victories  so  that  every 
age,  if  the  Christian  Church  be  true  to  her  vocation,  creates 
new  evidences  by  new  conquests  in  the  name  of  Christ.  This 
was  specially  bearing  and  incumbent  upon  them  because,  if 
they  would  have  the  faith  handed  on  pure  to  those  coming 
after  them,  one  condition  was  that  they  should  be  in  earnest 
and  be  united  so  that  they  might  be  successful  in  extending 
it  throughout  the  earth. 

In  conclusion  the  Bishop  thus  referred  to  the 
death  of  the  Prince  Consort  : — 

And  now  he  wanted  every  one  of  them  there  present  to 
join  him  in  a  prayer — not  a  mere  formal  cold  prayer — during 
these  weeks  of  sorrow,  for  God  to  remember  our  beloved 
Queen.  Oh  !  let  them  remember  that  in  such  a  trial  as  this 
instead  of  her  exalted  rank  taking  from  the  sting  of  widow- 
hood it  only  added  to  it ;  that  the  weight  of  her  crowned 
authority,  so  much  supported  by  the  loving  hand  wrenched 


1 86 1.  FUNERAL   OF  THE  PRINCE.  43 

from  her,  must  needs  press  upon  that  true  womanly  heart 
with  an  almost  intolerable  weight.  Let  their  prayers  for  her 
be  real  and  let  not  the  reality  of  those  prayers  be  made  weak 
and  powerless  by  their  encouraging  in  their  heart  the  policy 
of  selfishness  or  the  miserable  pettiness  of  suspicion. 

There  is  much  evidence  of  the  deep  feeling-  with 
which  the  Bishop  took  part  in  the  funeral  of  the  Prince 
Consort : — 

December  23. — Off  with  the  Dean  for  Windsor.  The 
funeral  most  moving  ;  many  honest  old  politicians  in  tears  as 
it  proceeded.  Those  two  princes  at  their  father's  feet.  His 
power  for  good  gone. 

The  Bishop  of  Oxford  to  Sti"  Charles  Andej^son. 

Athenaeum,  December  23,  1861. 

My  dearest  Anderson, — I  am  just  come  up  from  the 
funeral.  It  was  a  most  moving  sight.  The  Prince  of  Wales, 
Prince  Arthur,  Prince  Louis  of  Hesse,  and  the  son  of  the 
King  of  Belgium,  all  deeply  affected,  and  really  hardly  a  dry 
eye  in  the  chapel,  old  politicians  feeling  as  for  a  private  son. 
As  Woodford  beautifully  said  in  his  sermon  yesterday,  there 
was  not  a  house  where  there  was  not,  as  it  were,  '  one  dead.' 
I  am  delighted  to  think  you  can  meet  Prevost ;  he  will  so 
very  much  enjoy  it.  But  if  you  find  a  later  time  suit  you 
better  you  will  change.     Yours  ever  affectionately, 

S.  OXON. 

The  Queen  still  bears  up.  Not  so  good  a  night  last 
night,  probably  from  the  coming  funeral.  Her  worst  time  is, 
alas,  to  come. 


The  Bishop  of  Oxfo7'd  to  the  Hoji.  A.  Gordon. 

December  26,  1 861. 

My  dearest  Arthur, — How  indelible  are  some  dints  in 
memory  !  Ever  since  we  spent  that  happy  Sunday  together 
here  I  have  come  so  greatly  to  associate  your  memory  with 


44  LIFE   OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.  chap.  I. 

the  spot,  that  all  we  saw,  felt,  and  spoke  of  together  comes 
fresh  before  my  mind  on  every  return  here. 

What  a  blow  this  last  has  been  !  All  my  old  affection  for 
him  has  revived  over  his  tomb — and  for  our  poor  Queen.  I 
can  hardly  think  without  tears  of  what  it  is  to  her.  So 
irreparable,  and  she  so  certain  to  be  continually,  by  all  her 
duties  and  acts,  brought  full  face  to  face  again  and  again  daily 
with  her  grief  and  her  loss.  The  funeral  was  most  deeply 
affecting  ;  you  saw  old,  dry,  political  eyes,  which  seemed  as  if 
they  had  long  forgotten  how  to  weep,  gradually  melting  and 
running  down  in  large  drops  of  sympathy.  The  two  Princes 
and  the  brother  and  the  son-in-law  intended,  were  all  deeply 
moved.  It  is  wonderful  how  the  accidents  of  the  death  have 
done  what  life  and  all  his  service  in  it  never  in  the  least 
effected,  for  the  deep  sorrow  and  the  universal  popularity  are 
really  astonishing.  What  spoils  has  death  carried  off  from 
us  in  these  few  months — your  father,  Herbert,  Graham,  the 
Prince— and  how  bare  does  it  leave  the  Queen,  really  no  one 
on  whom  she  can  thoroughly  lean.  If  your  dear  father  had 
been  left  she  would  have  had  a  true  friend  and  would  have 
known  that  she  had. 

And  then  this  dark  cloud  from  America.  My  own  belief 
is  that  they  will  not  fight  nozu,  hard  as  it  must  be  for  the 
Government  to  avoid  it.  This  concerns  you  too,  so  closely 
that  I  feel  doubly  interested  in  it  now.  You  have  only  just 
left  us  really,  and  yet  time  so  gallops  on  that  it  seems  quite  a 
long  time.  I  shall  require  to  hear  from  you,  my  dearest 
Arthur,  all  ^howt  yourself  especially.  I  am  ever,  with  hearty 
love,  wishing  you  every  Christmas  blessing,  your  very  affec- 
tionate  friend,  g^  ^^^^ 

The  Bishop  of  Ely  thus  writes  to  the  Editor  his 
recollections  of  the  sadness  at  Cuddesdon  caused  by 
the  Prince's  death. 

I  remember,  as  though  it  were  yesterday,  the  Ordination 
of  Advent,  1861 — how  the  whole  Ember  week  at  Cuddesdon, 
usually  so  bright  notwithstanding  the  work,  was  darkened 
by  the  shadow  of  the  Prince  Consort's  death.     The  Bishop 


1 86 1.  LAST  CONVERSATION   WITH  PRINCE.  45 

seemed  unable  to  tear  himself  away  from  the  thought  of 
Windsor  and  the  scenes  which  were  passing  there,  and  I  was 
particularly  struck  with  the  personal  affection  which  he 
manifested  for  the  Queen  and  the  consequently  '  home ' 
character  of  his  sympathy  with  her,  less  as  a  sovereign  than 
as  a  wife.  I  was  to  preach  the  Ordination  sermon,  and  he 
was  specially  anxious  that  the  subject  should  not  go  un- 
mentioned,  however  difficult  it  might  be  to  weave  it  into  an 
address  to  the  candidates.  Trench  -  was  at  Cuddesdon  as  an 
examining  chaplain  and  was  absorbed  with  the  sermon  which 
he  had  to  prepare  for  Westminster  Abbey  on  the  coming 
Sunday.  We  drove  into  Oxford  late  on  Saturday  night, 
reaching  Christ  Church  about  midnight,  and  I  can  still  hear, 
as  it  were,  the  Bishop's  sad  voice  in  the  dark  carriage  re- 
calling his  early  remembrances  of  the  Prince  in  the  first  days 
of  the  Royal  marriage.  It  was  then,  too  (I  think),  that  he 
mentioned  the  last  conversation  which  the  Prince  had  held 
with  him.  The  Bishop  had  been  preaching  in  the  private 
chapel  at  Windsor  upon  the  subject  of  our  Lord's  intercession 
in  heaven.  His  presenting  the  prayers  of  His  people  to  the 
Father,  and  enforcing  them  by  the  presence  of  His  human 
body  still  bearing  the  mark  of  the  wounds  of  His  Passion, 
The  Prince  had  sent  a  message  inviting  the  Bishop  to  walk 
with  him  in  the  afternoon,  and  turned  the  conversation  to  the 
sermon  of  the  morning,  saying  that  it  had  suggested  to  him 
an  entirely  new  view  of  the  subject,  that  he  must  not  be 
supposed  to  mean  that  he  accepted  it,  but  that  he  should 
give  it  his  most  serious  reflection,  adding,  '  Now,  at  any  rate, 
I  understand  why  the  Church  of  England  is  so  careful  to 
conclude  every  prayer  with  such  words  as  "  through  Jesus 
Christ  our  Lord." ' 

-  The  Dean  of  Westminster. 


46  LIFE   OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.  chap,  il. 


CHAPTER   IL 

(1862.) 

ILLNESS  ON  CONFIRMATION  TOUR— MEETING  OF  BISHOPS— SPEECH  ON  LORD 
EBURY'S  bill— BISHOPS  IX  HEATHEN  COUNTRIES — THE  BISHOP  AND 
THE  LORD  CHANCELLOR — SERMON  IN  WESTMINSTER  ABBEY — RETREAT  AT 
CUDDESDON — LETTERS  ABOUT  LAY  READERS — WEEKLY  COMMUNION — 
DEATH  OF  ARCHBISHOP  SUMNER — THE  NEW  APPOINTMENTS — ADDRESSES 
AT  SHEFFIELD  AND  WARGRAVE— THE  CONFRATERNITY  OF  THE  BLESSED 
SACRAMENT — DEATH    OK   THE    PRINCIPAL   OF   CUDDESDON    COLLEGE. 

January  i. — (Lavington.)  Up  at  5,  and  off  with  Lewis 
Owen  in  blackest  of  mornings  to  Graffliam.  R.  Randall's 
sermon  admirable  and  very  touching — '  Lo  !  I  come  to  do 
Thy  will,  O  Lord  I ' — may  I  do  it  this  year  !  Very,  very  cold 
day.  After  breakfast,  with  my  young  men  ;  they  to  shoot ; 
out  with  them  all  day.  The  savour  of  the  morning  service 
with  me.  To  Petworth  to  dine  and  sleep.  Great  magis- 
trates' party.  Duke  of  Richmond,  Lord  Chichester,  Car- 
negie, &c.,  &c. 

March  17. — Off  for  Princes  Risborough.  A  most  depressing 
Confirmation.  Church  mouldy  and  empty.  Candidates  very 
few,  and  Princes  Risborough  evidently  untaught.  On  to 
Woburn.  There  things  better  ;  care  and  labour,  but  depression 
visible  in  all.  On  to  Cliveden.  Duke  and  Duchess  of  Argyll, 
Mrs.  Norton,  Mrs.  Gladstone,  Mrs.  Malcolm.  A  very  pleasant 
evening :  intellectual,  moral,  high  bred  in  everything. 

March  18. — After  prayers  and  breakfast  off  for  Burnham. 
The  confirmation  a  little  chill.  Carters,  &c.,  all  very  pleasant. 
On  to  Upton.  A  very  nice  Confirmation  ;  warmth,  intelli- 
gence, I  hope  feeling.  Much  doing  there.  Cree  very  success- 
ful.    Thence  to .     All  well  cared  for.     Back  to  Cliveden. 

Gladstone  joining.     Discussion  on  increase  of  Franchise — he 


1 862.  ILLNESS.  47 

strong  for — Education — he  for  Code  ;  Irish  Church — he  for 
maintaining  in  present  right.  Will  not  agree  to  plan  for 
putting  Irish  Bishops  on  our  Privy  Council. 

In  April  the  Bishop  had  a  severe  attack  of  rheu- 
matism ;  his  diary  shows  how  courageously  he  fought 
against  illness.  The  attack  began  while  the  Bishop 
was  on  his  annual  Confirmation  Tour,  on  April  2.  He 
confirmed  at  Windsor  at  9.30,  Eton  College  at  11.30; 
then  : — 

Great  pain  in  left  arm.  Saw  Watson  ^  at  night,  which 
wakeful  all  through  with  great  pain. 

April  3. — In  bed  ;  Watson  attending  ;  very  poorly  ;  he 
not  knowing  what  to  make  of  it. 

On  the  4th  : — 

Still  very  poorly,  and  vexed  at  being  away  from  my 
work.  Tried  strength  by  going  to  House  of  Lords,  and 
quite  beat  and  suffered  all  night  for  it. 

For  the  next  six  days  the  Bishop  was  com- 
pelled to  be  quiet  and  to  remain  in  his  room  ;  but 
on  April  1 1  :— 

Rheumatism  still  bad,  but  on  to  Newport  Pagnell  and 
Chichely  Confirmations  ;  much  interested,  but  suffering  all 
day. 

On  the  1 2th  : — 

Very  stiff  and  poorly  this  morning.  Confirmed  at  Olney 
and  Broughton,  and  on  to  Brickhill  Manor;  the  pain  during 
last  part  of  drive  making  me  quite  faint.  Fought  it  out 
through  dinner  ;  then  so  bad  that  to  bed  ;  sleepless  night 
and  great  suffering. 

April  13. — Unable  to  move.  Tried.  Got  up  and  to  bed. 
Put  olTf  Confirmations.  Read  Carter's  sermons.  Meditated, 
prayed.     Great  suffering. 

April  19. — After  breakfast  off  in  carriage  to  Aylesbury, 

'  Sir  Thomas  Watson. 


48  LIFE   OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.         chap.  ll. 

where  luncheon  with  Archdeacon,  and  horses  bait.  On  to 
Cuddesdon.  Read  a  good  deal  of  '  Aids  to  Faith.'  Very  much 
tired,  but  no  increase  of  pain.  Read  Pitt's  death  :  how 
affecting.^ 

This  renewed  attack  rendered  it  for  the  time  im- 
possible that  the  Bishop  should  continue  his  work ;  he 
was  obliged  to  stay  during  four  or  five  days  at  Brick- 
hill  Manor,  and  then,  still  ill,  go  to  Cuddesdon,  having 
most  narrowly  escaped  a  severe  rheumatic  fever. 

From  Brickhill  the  Bishop  writes  to  Sir  Charles 
Anderson  : — 

April  16. — I  am  rather  in  a  bad  way.  I  set  out  on 
Thursday  for  my  Confirmations,  and  fought  on  till  Saturday 
evening,  when,  on  reaching  this  place,  I  was  so  ill  that  I  had 
to  go  to  bed,  with  a  very  bad  relapse  of  rheumatism,  and 
there  I  have  been  ever  since.  Nothing  can  have  exceeded 
the  kindness  of  Sir  P.  and  Lady  Duncombe,  whom  I  was  to 
have  left  on  Monday. 

At  Cuddesdon  the  Bishop,  though  still  far  from 
well,  received  the  Inspectors  of  Schools  on  their 
annual  visit  ;  these  w^ere  succeeded  by  the  Rural 
Deans,  and  on  the  24th  the  Bishop  records  in  his 
diary  one  important  result  of  his  Episcopate  : — 

Discussion  of  subjects  ;  all  most  pleasant ;  Adam's  speech. 
'  Happy  day  ;  never  believed  it  possible  that  we  could  be 
brought  together,  but  it  was  accomplished  tJien' 

May  6. — To  Oxford  ;  morning.  To  Diocesan  meetings. 
Saw  both  dear  Fellows.  Evening  rode  out  to  Cuddesdon. 
Very  lonely  but  less  oppressed  by  it.  Svvinny  on  business. 
Read  a  good  bit  of  *  Hook's  Archbishops,'  vol.  2. 

The  Bishop's  election  to  the  Philobiblon  Socif^ty  is 
recorded  as  follows  : — 

May  10. — To    first    breakfast    with  Philobiblon    Society, 

-  Stanhope's  Life  of  Pitt. 


i862.  LORD  EDURY'S  BILL.  49 

into  which  elected   rather  at    unawares,    through    Curzon's^ 
kindness.    Van  de  Weyer  and  Dufferin  by  me. 

May  17.— Morning  wrote,  &c.  Then  meeting  of  Sons  of 
Clergy,  and  on  to  London  Bridge,  nearly  late.  Down  to 
Redhill,  where  William  (his  groom),  and  horse,  and  Cazenove. 
The  day  beautiful  but  hazy.  Nightingale  singing,  &c.  Rode 
to  Reigate,  and  S.P.G.  meeting.  All  cordial  and  pleasing  ; 
good  meeting.  Mrs  Hoare,  Wynter,  and  other  old  friends. 
Rode  with  Cazenove  ;  Reigate  Park,  &c.  Wrote  preface  to 
'  Hawaii '  (Mr.  Manley  Hopkins'  book). 

On  May  27,  Lord  Ebury  moved  the  second 
reading  of  the  Act  of  Uniformity  Amendment  Bill,  the 
object  of  which  was  to  alter  the  declaration  required 
from  those  about  to  be  ordained,  in  accordance  with 
the  36th  Canon,  that  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer 
contained  in  it  nothing  contrary  to  the  Word  of  God. 
This  question  had  been  introduced  at  the  Bishops' 
private  meeting  on  May  22  by  the  Bishop  of  Lichfield, 
who  supported  Lord  Ebury,  and  said  he  had  been 
told  that  there  were  a  number  of  young  men  kept  out 
of  the  mxinistry  by  the  declaration,  and  in  the  present 
lack  of  men,  &c.  ...  He  was  answered  by  the  Bishop  : 
'  Did  yoiL  yourself  ever  meet  one  such  .^ '  Bishop  of 
Lichfield  :  '  No.'  Bishop  of  Oxford  to  all :  '  Did  any 
one  of  us  ever  find  one  such  ? '     All  :   '  No.' 

The  diary  of  May  27  contains  this  entry  in 
reference  to  the  speech  the  Bishop  made  against  the 
Bill,  an  extract  from  which  is  given  : — 

Then  to  House  of  Lords  on  Ebury 's  motion.  Spoke,  and 
utterly  disgusted  at  my  speech  ;  led  away  from  tone  of  my 
own  inner  serious  convictions  to  debate  it  effectively.  Miser- 
able afterwards. 

The  Bishop  said  : — 

Did  their  lordships  mean,  in  a  day  which,  as  he  thought, 

'  Hon.  R.  Curzon,  afterwards  Lord  Zouche. 
YOI,.  in.  E 


50  LIFE   OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.         chap.  li. 

the  noble  earl  (Lord  Russell,  who  had  just  spoken)  had 
rightly  described  as  one  of  unexampled  boldness,  not  to  say 
audacity,  of  individual  belief,  to  withdraw  all  declarations 
from  those  who  were  to  be  the  teachers  of  the  people  that 
they  held  any  amount  of  truth  whatever  ?  He  was  astonished 
at  the  exaggerated  statements  Avhich  had  been  made  of 
hundreds  and  thousands  of  young  men  who  became  Dis- 
senting ministers  rather  than  remain  in  the  Church,  because 
some  day  or  other  they  might  have  to  make  the  declaration 
that  they  believed  what  they  said.  During  the  seventeen 
years  he  had  been  connected  with  the  University  of  Oxford, 
having  had  hundreds  of  conscientious  young  men  coming  to 
him  perpetually  for  assistance  in  the  resolution  of  their 
doubts,  he  could  say  he  had  never  found  one  who,  in  the 
midst  of  his  scruples,  scrupled  about  this ;  and  when,  on 
a  recent  occasion,  a  great  number  of  prelates  w^ere  in  town, 
he  took  the  liberty  of  asking  them  whether,  in  their  varied 
experience,  they  ever  found  such  a  case,  the  answer  of  every 
Bishop  was  that  he  knew  of  none.  He  ventured,  therefore, 
to  think  that  this  was  one  of  those  chimerical  creations  of 
men  in  buckram,  who  were  always  ready  to  be  called  on  the 
stage  to  represent  a  mighty  army  by  flitting  to  and  fro  across 
the  vision,  but  who,  if  they  could  really  be  seen  at  once, 
would  turn  out  to  be  a  very  paltry  assortment  of  countr}^ 
actors.  .  .  .  To  thus  stir  the  entire  minds  of  the  people  and 
Church  of  England,  to  call  on  their  lordships  to  alter  the 
whole  standing-place  of  the  ministry  of  that  Church,  and 
having  made  his  speech,  and  introduced  those  fabulous 
numbers  of  men  under  the  deep  conflict  of  conscience,  to  set 
them  free  from  all  discomfort  by  such  a  declaration  as  his 
noble  friend  had  proposed,  he  did  say  was  trifling.  Nothing 
was  more  calculated  to  do  harm  than  stirring  such  questions, 
unless  with  the  resolute  determination  on  conscientious  grounds 
to  go  through  with  them  to  the  very  utmost,  till  they  were 
brought  to  a  final  settlement.  He  believed  their  lordships 
were  not  prepared  to  give  up  the  principle  of  subscription, 
and  unless  they  were  so  prepared  they  could  not  entertain 
such  a  measure  as  this.  What  was  wanted  was  that  they 
should  have  the  guarantee  which  honest  men  would  consider 


1 862.  CHURCH  CONGRESS.  5 1 

binding  on  them — not  that  they  would  not  hereafter  alter 
their  opinions — that  was  not  the  meaning  of  subscription. 
No  man  ever  said  he  would  not  alter  his  opinion  on  any 
point ;  but  what  he  said  was,  he  now  held  certain  definite  and 
intelligible  views  of  truth,  took  his  teacher's  office  on  con- 
dition of  teaching  them,  and,  as  an  honest  man,  if  he  changed 
those  views  he  was  prepared  to  lay  down  the  office  which  he 
held  on  the  condition  of  maintaining  them. 

June  22. — Shalstone.  Morning  early.  Prepared  morning 
sermon  on,  '  If  we  believe  that  Jesus  died.'  Many  in  church 
in  tears.  God  grant  some  good  done.  Consecrated  church- 
yard. Wrote.  Prepared  sermon  for  afternoon  on  gift  of  Spirit. 
Baptised  Richard  Purefoy  Fitzgerald.  Walked  in  garden 
with  Mrs.  Fitzgerald.     Read  some  of  *  Life  of  Irving.' 

JiLly  4. — Meeting  on  the  Central  African  Mission  ;  read- 
ing journals,  &c.  ;  five  hours  in  chair ;  Provost  of  Oriel  very 
warm.  Reading  for  article  on  Sandwich  Islands  for  the 
*  Quarterly.' 

July  5. — Worked  very  hard  all  day  at  article — save  when 
dear  Basil  came  en  ronte  for  Wales.  He  very  dear  and 
affectionate.  Down  with  Reg.  in  hansom  in  pouring  rain  to 
Highgate  to  Miss  Coutts. 

On  the  8th  the.  Bishop  was  at  Oxford  presiding  at 
the  Church  Congress.  This  was  the  second  year  of 
these  meetings,  and  now  that  they  have  assumed  the 
character  of  a  settled  institution,  it  is  worth  while  to 
observe  how  the  Bishop's  prescience  averted  a  danger 
which  might  have  destroyed  them  in  their  infancy.  A 
strong  inclination  was  evinced  at  this  Oxford  Congress 
to  pass  resolutions.  The  Bishop  saw  the  peril,  and,  by 
checking  this  inclination,  secured  the  continued  exis- 
tence of  Church  Congresses  as  meetings  for  the  inter- 
change of  opinions  upon  ecclesiastical  subjects,  with- 
out binding  those  present  to  any  conclusions,  or 
dividing  the  assembly  into  majorities  and  minorities. 

Jnly  10. — Still  engaged  at  Congress,  which,  D.  G.,  I  think 

K  2 


52  LIFE   OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.  chap.  ii. 

really  very  successful.    At  night  preparing  sermon  for  Central 
African  Mission. 

Jtdy  II. — Morning;  early  Communion  at  St.  Mary's,  and 
afterwards  I  preached.  On  Mackenzie  at  meeting  and  came 
off  to  London.  Missionary  Bishops  Bill  opposed  by  the 
Lord  Chancellor,  with  great  falsehood  of  statement,  which  I 
had  to  meet.     Withdrew  the  Bill,  suadcnie  Lord  Derby. 

The  Bill  here  referred  to  was  very  short,  consist- 
ing of  but  one  clause.  The  Bishop  had  reason  to  think 
that  it  would  not  be  opposed,  as  the  Lord  Chancellor 
had  himself  susfSfested  the  omission  of  a  second  clause 
which  was  in  the  Bill  when  originally  introduced,  and 
which  required  the  Royal  Licence.  The  Bishop,  in 
deference  to  this  opinion,  struck  out  the  clause.  The 
Lord  Chancellor,  however,  gave  a  most  strenuous  op- 
position to  the  Bill  as  altered  and  founded  his  opposi- 
tion on  the  ground  that  legislation  was  unnecessary  and 
that  this  Bill  was  an  attempt  to  destroy  the  supremacy 
of  the  Crown,  insomuch  as  under  this  Bill  the  Royal 
Licence  would  not  be  required.  He  also  said  that 
the  Statute  25  Henry  VTH.  was  one  of  the  most  im- 
portant laws  on  the  Statute  Book,  as  it  placed  the 
Crown  in  the  position  of  being  head  of  the  Church. 
For  this  mis-statement  the  Bishop  took  him  to  task,  as 
the  Statute  quoted  by  the  Lord  Chancellor  had  been 
repealed  in  the  reign  of  Queen  Mary  and  never  re- 
enacted.  He  then  pointed  out  the  Act  which  did  bear 
on  the  question  before  the  House,  20  Henry  VHL, 
but  that  Statute  claimed  for  the  Crown  that  it  was  the 
source  of  all  spiritual  authority.  He  said  :  '  The  supre- 
macy of  the  Crown  was  the  supremacy  of  the  law  ;  but 
the  law  had  never  said  that  the  Crown  had  the  spi- 
ritual authority  of  a  Bishop — power  in  governing  the 
consciences  of  those  who  belonged  to  his  government. 
The  doctrine  laid  down  by  the  noble  and  learned  lord 


1862.  THE  BISHOP  AND    THE   CHANCELLOR.  53 

on  the  woolsack  would  lead  to  all  that  Romanists 
endeavoured  to  thrust  upon  the  Church  of  England,  if 
it  was  asserted  by  any  authority.' 

A  sharp  passage  of  arms  then  ensued  between  the 
Bishop  and  the  Chancellor,  and  in  the  end  the  Bishop, 
seeing  how  few  of  the  representatives  of  the  Episcopal 
Bench  were  present,  on  the  advice  of  Lords  Derby  and 
Granville,  withdrew  the  Bill.  The  following  are  the 
concluding  remarks  of  the  Chancellor,  and  the  Bishop's 
answer.  They  were,  as  will  be  seen,  of  the  nature  of  a 
personal  explanation  on  one  of  the  issues  that  had  been 
raised  in  the  debate. 

The  Lord  Chancellor :  It  is  contended  that  I  have  made 
a  mistake  as  regards  the  use  of  the  word  '  spiritual.'  Now, 
what  is  the  oath  of  allegiance  ?  It  declares  that  no  foreign 
prince,  prelate,  &c.,  hath  or  ought  to  have,  any  jurisdiction, 
power,  pre-eminence,  or  authority,  civil  or  ecclesiastical,  in 
this  realm.  What  is  the  other  declaration  as  to  the  Queen  ? 
'That  she  is  in  all  causes  and  in  all  matters  within  her 
dominions  supreme.'  Noble  lords  will  see  how  it  confirms 
my  argument. 

The  Bishop  of  Oxford  :  This  is  another  of  those  in- 
accuracies of  statement  of  which  I  have  to  complain  in  so 
high  a  legal  authority.  If  the  declaration  were  in  the  terms 
in  which  the  Lord  Chancellor  has  stated  it,  that  the  Queen  is 
'  in  all  matters '  supreme,  it  would  of  course  bear  out  the 
argument  of  the  noble  and  learned  lord  ;  but  the  declaration 
is  not  so.  It  is,  *  in  all  causes '  and  '  over  all  persons  within 
these  her  dominions  supreme,'  and  the  inaccurate  quotation 
marks  what  the  noble  lord  wants,  and  cannot  find,  to  estab- 
lish his  statement. 

The  Bill  was  then  withdrawn.^ 

The  following  is  an  extract  from  a  sermon  preached 

*  The  day  after  the  above  debate  I  was  walking  with  my  father  down  Cock- 
spur  Street,  when  we  met  Lord  Chelmsford,  who  said,  after  greeting  the  Bishop  : 
'  I  should  think  this  morning  Westbury  feels  the  same  sensations  mentally,  that 
an  Eton  boy  would  bodily  after  an  interview  with  Keate.' — Ed. 


54  LIFE   OF  BISHOP    IVILBERFORCE.         chap.  il. 

by  the  Bishop  in  Westminster  Abbey  on  June  29,  on 
the  deaths  of  Lord  Canning  and  Bishop  Mackenzie. 
Referring  to  the  latter,  the  Bishop  thus  writes  :  '  How 
very,  very  trying  is  Bishop  Mackenzie's  death  !  How 
soon  his  place  won  amongst  the  confessors'  shining 
ranks  !     But,  alas  !  he  threw  that  precious  life  away.' 

The  Bishop  gave  a  glowing  account  of  the  happi- 
ness of  the  perfected  soul  : — 

Immortal  life  must  be  the  degradation  of  the  degraded, 
and  the  glory  of  the  perfected.  Their  happiness  was  illimit- 
able and  everlasting.  There  was  no  '  absorption,'  no  *  ceasing 
to  be, '  no  '  separate  consciousness  swallowed  up  in  universal 
life,'  but  the  unity  of  the  soul  was  but  the  transcript  of  ever- 
lasting unity.  The  next  transition  was  to  the  death  of 
particular  persons.  But  the  other  day  we  stood  in  the 
northern  transept  of  that  very  abbey  with  hushed  hearts  and 
tearful  eyes  as  the  vaulted  echoes  of  the  arches  gave  back 
the  beautiful  song  over  the  mighty  dead.'  Not  for  their  glorj^, 
or  for  their  acquirements,  or  for  their  mighty  power,  though 
they  might  have  ruled  a  hundred  millions,  were  they  noio 
honoured.  If  they  were  pure  here,  what  must  they  be  when 
they  were  received  purified  into  heaven  .-'  Some  men  led 
evident  palpable  lives  of  usefulness  ;  truth  was  maintained, 
justice  supported  and  wrong  redressed.  But  did  they  sup- 
pose that  the  lives  of  men  who  did  good  unseen  were  pur- 
poseless ? — lives  such  as  that  of  their  brother  whom  their 
mother  Church  mourned  that  day,'^  who  had  left  home,  for- 
tune, hopes,  friends,  to  preach  the  Gospel  on  the  shores  of 
Africa  or  the  banks  of  the  Zambesi .''  Such  a  man's  life 
repeated  itself  again  ;  it  laid  hold  of  some  other  heart  and 
caused  it  to  emulate  it.  Perhaps  by  his  death  a  thousand 
were  encouraged  in  their  secret  struggles  to  do  and  to  dare 
for  Christ.  The  death  of  some  such  champion  of  the  Cross 
might  so  be  made  more  fruitful  than  his  life. 

The  following  Is  an   account  of  the  opening  and 
concluding  addresses  delivered   by  the   Bishop    In  a 

*  Lord  Canning.  ^  Bishop  Mackenzie. 


i862.  CLERGY  RETREAT.  ^5 

Retreat  for  the  Clergy,  taken  from  his  notes  ;  which 
are,  unfortunately,  only  fragmentary.  The  Retreat 
began  at  Cuddesdon  on  Wednesday,  July  23,  and 
finished  on  Saturday  morning,  July  26.  First  Address, 
Wednesday  night,  9.3c. 

The  need  of  an  object. — Mere  quietness  of  spirit,  though 
a  blessing,  not  enough  ;  rather  a  higher  standing-point  for  an 
after-reach  of  hoHer  Hving,  and  for  this  some  definite  object, 
so  far  as  may  be,  according  to  our  own  spiritual  state  and 
need — e.g.  overcoming  some  special  sin — gaining  some  special 
grace — acquiring  some  new  power,  as  e.g.  power  of  prayer — 
or  strength  against  some  new  temptation. 

2.  Other  means  of  using  it — mental  prayer,  i.e.  dwelling 
in  devout  contemplation,  as  on  some  act,  or  attribute,  or 
promise  of  God.  The  viind  receiving  the  idea,  the  imagina- 
tion dwelling  on  and  making  it  live,  the  intellect  grasping  it, 
the  affections  kindling  it,  the  will  choosing  it — this  must  be 
if  any  profit  is  to  be  the  result.  Four  needs:  i.  A  disciplined 
mind — the  power  of  fixing  it.  2.  Strength  of  will — to  put 
hindrances  away,  such  as  intrusive  thoughts,  sorrow,  anxiety, 
3.  Humility — for  the  sense  of  need  of  grace.  4.  Interspers- 
ing petitions— colloquies,  as  in  the  Book  of  Psalms. 

Concluding  address  : — 

We  shall  soon  be  sent,  as  the  disciples  in  the  Gospel,  to 
distribute  the  bread.  Shall  we  stand  as  the  same,  or  will  these 
days  have  changed  us  }  It  is  like  a  flood-tide  bearing  us  up, 
but  there  is  the  danger  of  ebb  ;  there  is  to  us  the  danger  of 
reaction.  How  are  we  then  to  profit  t  If  there  be  the 
thought  of  a  life  with  more  of  aim  and  perseverance,  less  of 
self,  more  of  God  ;  less  of  the  world,  more  of  the  sanctuary ; 
which  will  last  with  autumn  when  the  leaves  drop — hesitate 
not  on  the  verge  of  faith  ;  cast  thyself  into  the  deep  ;  resolve 
to  make  the  choice,  for  a  more  single  life,  for  a  more  concen- 
trated aim,  where  better  than  here  } 

Going  forth  from  here,  a  few  rules  will  sufiice  :  i.  Read  of 
spiritual  things  daily  for  yourself,  if  only  for  a  half  or  a  quarter 
of  an  hour.  Let  one  thought  from  this  reading  dwell  through 
the  day,  so  as  to  spread  over  all. 


56  LIFE   OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.  chap.  il. 

2.  Use  self-examination,  general  and  particular — one  as  to 
the  general  bearing  of  the  day,  the  other  as  to  the  besetting 
sin  or  sins  ;  to  be  short  is  often  best,  now  and  then  long  forms, 
but  generally  short,  touching  the  points  of  evil.  Five  minutes 
a  day  may  keep  a  self-examined  soul  prepared  for  judgment. 

3.  Use  frequent  Communion  ;  prepare  with  some  addi- 
tional act  of  devotion  ;  follow  it  with  a  grace  of  thanksgiving. 

4.  Fix  upon  one  virtue,  at  least,  specially  to  aspire  to. 
Keep  that  virtue  ;  purity  ;  recollection  of  God's  presence  ; 
humility.  Make  it  a  special  point  of  prayer,  and  of  what 
you  seek  at  Communion — ^this  in  connection  with  the  glorified 
life  of  Jesus  Christ. 

5.  And  with  this  virtue  fix  on  some  one  trial  which  thou 
wilt  bear  more  patiently,  bearing  loneliness  or  the  strife  of 
temptation  or  some  rough  word  or  some  crushing  weight. 
Bear  with  more  of  meekness  in  union  with  the  Passion,  the 
five  wounds,  in  one  of  which  we  would  hide  our  woe. 

6.  Ejaculatory  prayer,  keeping  the  cry  ready  for  our 
virtue,  or  some  verse  of  the  lesson,  so  as  to  watch  the  service, 
and  keep  our  attention  fixed. 

The  transformation  before  us,  of  the  disembodied  spirit 
moving  in  the  flow  of  the  Heavenly  Ocean,  and  then  in  the 
image  of  the  Risen  Saviour.  O  Lord,  hasten  our  preparation 
to  meet  Thee,  and  may  we  hear  Thy  voice  receiving  us — 
'Well  done,  thou  good  and  faithful  servant;  enter  thou 
into  the  joy  of  thy  Lord.'  ^ 

'  The  following  extract  is  taken  from  a  letter  written  by  the  Rev.  T.  Edwards, 
of  Prestbury,  in  1874,  who  was  present ;  this  letter  has  already  been  published^' : — 

'  When  the  Retreat  was  over,  and  some  of  those  present  had  already  left,  the 
Bishop  of  Capetown,  who  had  been  present  throughout  the  Retreat,  sent  to  the 
college  inviting  all  who  could  to  go  into  the  Palace,  that  they  might  unite  with 
him  in  an  expression  of  thanks  to  the  Bishop  of  Oxford  for  conducting  it.  I 
went,  as,  no  doubt,  did  all  who  were  not  gone,  and  the  Bishop  of  Capetown  ex- 
pressed, in  the  name  of  all,  our  gratitude  to  the  Bishop  of  Oxford,  who,  when 
looking  for  a  period  of  retirement  and  refreshment  for  himself,  had  suddenly  and 
without  preparation  undertaken  the  laborious  task  of  conducting  the  Retreat,''  of 
which  we  had  enjoyed  the  fruits.  All  were  under  the  influence  of  this  Retreat  ; 
and  the  blessing  which,  at  the  conclusion  of  his  address,  the  Bishop  of  Capetown 
asked  for  and  the  Bishop  of  Oxford  gave,  as  we  all  knelt  in  one  of  the  large 

•■'  Life  of  Robert  Gray,  Bishop  of  Capeto^vn,  vol.  ii.  p.  549. 
i"  The  Rev.  H.  P.  Liddon  was  to  have  conducted  this  Retreat,  but  at  the  last 
moment  he  was  compelled,  by  the  death  of  a  relative,  to  be  absent. 


1 862.  THE    WILBERFORCE  OAK.  57 

7n/y  26. —  Cuddesdon.  The  party  broke  up  after  break- 
fast and  church.  Early  Communion  and  address  on  perse- 
verance. As  soon  as  they  were  gone  I  sat  down  and  wrote 
character  of  Mackenzie  for  '  Church  and  State  Review,'  and 
then  letters.  To  evening  church.  Lady  Anderson,  F.,  and 
Ernest  came.  Took  a  trot  before  dinner  at  8,  and  with  them 
all  the  evening. 

July  29. — (Cuddesdon.)  I  at  10.30  to  Oxford,  to  preside 
over  Conference  of  Clergy  ;  about  104  in  Convocation  House. 
Rector  of  Exeter  all  kindness,  and  so  indeed  all.  Moore  and 
Bickersteth  good  papers  on  spiritual  mind.  Evening — Tem- 
perance movement.     Ellison  and  Clutterbuck  for. 

August  9. — (Chevening )  Wrote  all  the  morning — letters 
and  review  of  Mrs.  Trench  for  'Literary  Churchman.'  Then 
drove  with  the  Cheney's,  General  Peel,  and  Lord  Stanhope 
to  Holwood.  Examined  the  '  Wilberforce '  oak.^  Saw  Mr. 
Pitt's  old  carter  boy  ;  now  82  ;  clear  in  his  remembrance : 
'  Mr.  Pitt  took  in  from  farm  the  ground  sloping  below  the 
oak ;  he  planted  all  except  the  old  oaks ;  he  used  to  get  the 
trees  from  Brompton ;  I  used  to  go  in  cart  for  them  ;  he  was 
very  particular  about  the  planting.  Was  a  very  nice  sort  of 
man,  would  do  what  anyone  asked  him  in  one  way  or  another.' 
Mr.  Cheney's  good  story  of  Rogers.  His  mode  of  telling  a 
story,  and,  if  it  failed,  saying,  '  Some  people  don't  see  that.' 

One  of  the  letters  recorded  as  having  been  written 
on  this  day  was  to  Dr.  Staley,  the  newly  consecrated 
Bishop  of  Honolulu,  and  it  gives  the  Bishop's  opinions 
on  the  difference  between  deacons  and  readers  : — 

The  Bishop  of  Oxford  to  the  Eishop  of  Honolulu. 

Chevening,  Sevenoaks,  August  9,  1S62. 
My  dear  Bishop, — If  you    find    laymen    who  will   work 
under  you,    I  would   by  all  means  use  them — without  their 

rooms  of  the  Palace,  concluded  an  incident,  simple  indeed,  but  deeply  impressive, 
and  all  the  more  so,  looking  back  at  it  after  an  interval  of  twelve  years,  and 
remembering  that  both  these  holy  men,  to  whom,  as  well  as  to  us,  that  time  had 
been  among  their  holiest  moments,  are  resting  from  their  labours.' 

^  The  oak  under  which  Mr.  Pitt  agreed  to  suj^port  W.  Wilberforce  in  abolisli- 
ing  the  Slave  Trade. 


58  LIFE   OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.         chap.  ir. 

giving  up  their  pursuits — in  the  service  of  the  sanctuary.  But 
I  would  not  call  them  deacons,  nor  ordain  them  with  laying  on 
of  hands.  I  am  persuaded  :  i.  That  having  a  double  order 
under  the  same  name,  i.e.  deacons  Avho  have  renounced 
all  for  the  ministry  and  those  who  have  not,  is  («)  contrary  to 
primitive  use,  {h)  full  of  inconvenience  in  practice,  and  (c) 
would  lead  to  confusion.  2.  That  the  true  mode  is  to  have 
what,  under  like  circumstances,  the  Church  has  already  de- 
veloped— a  minor  order.  Such  an  order,  therefore,  I  should 
institute.  I  would  avoid,  as  long  as  I  could,  giving  it  a  name, 
because  names  offend  when  the  reality  is  unknown  ;  when 
the  thing  has  shown  its  own  usefulness  it  wmU  find  a  name. 
Then  either  sub-deacon  or  reader  might,  without  alarm  to 
any,  designate  the  familiar  and  useful  fact.  As  to  the  mode 
of  appointment  of  such,  I  should  best  like  the  communicants 
to  elect  or  approve  ;  but,  till  they  are  organised,  would  select 
them  myself  carefully  and  after  trial  of  their  soundness. 
Then  I  would  set  them,  not  apart  from  secular  pursuits,  but 
for  their  office,  by  prayer  in  the  congregation,  e.g.  some  of  the 
ordination  prayers.  Their  work  should  be  very  much  the 
Catechisfs.  I  should  let  them  preach  in  schoolhouses,  &c,  ; 
reading  portions  of  the  Prayer-book  appointed  by  me — 7iot 
the  Absolution  ;  no  extempore  prayer.  I  would  place  them 
with  the  Clergy  in  the  chancel  in  surplices,  get;,  them  to  lead 
the  choir  and  read  the  first  lesson  at  times.  I  should  employ 
them  specially  at  outposts,  ministering  to  distant  congre- 
gations in  schools,  and  bringing  periodically  their  flocks  to 
the  mother  church  for  Communion,  &c.     I  am  most  sincerely 

y°"^^'  S.  OXON. 

Angjist  II. — Chevening.  Early  breakfast  and  off  with 
Cheneys  to  London.  Saw  Honolulu.  Settled  papers,  &c., 
and  by  rail  to  Tamworth,  where  beloved  E — ,  and  home. 
Dinner  alone  with  them.  Henry  (Pye)  Protestant  and 
pleasant.     A  good  deal  of  talk  with  him. 

August  28. — (Hawarden.)  Off  at  6.45.  Gladstone  down 
to  see  me  off,  and  all  the  rest.  To  Chester.  Robes  left,  and 
telegraphed.  To  Sarsden.  Heavy  rain.  Wrote,  and  then 
rode  with  Barter  to  examine  Heythrop.     Pleasant  evening. 


iS62.  HOLIDAY  IN   WALES.  59 

Dr.  Moberly  said  he  met  Keble  looking  very  pleased  ;  asked 
why,  and  heard  that  '  the  Bishop  of  Winchester  has  begun  a 
letter  to  me,  "  Dear  Mr.  Keble." ' 

In  August  the  Bishop  went  for  a  short  holiday  to 
North  Wales.  The  following  extract  taken  from  '  The 
Guardian '  throws  some  light  on  the  way  he  spent  his 
days  of  rest : — 

A  Welsh  paper  says  :  The  Bishop  of  Oxford  has  been 
preaching  in  Wales  in  aid  of  the  Foreign  Missions  of  the 
Church.  Nearly  every  day  of  this  week  he  is  occupied  by 
sermons  or  meetings  in  various  towns  in  North  Wales.  Last 
Sunday  he  preached  at  a  small  town,  Corwen,  when  the 
Church  was  crowded  almost  to  suffocation.  The  large  con- 
gregation were  very  justly  delighted  with  an  extempore 
sermon  such  as  is  seldom  heard.  We  have  understood  that 
the  Bishop  is  now  '  having  his  holidays.'  We  may  well  ask 
what  he  does  when  in  full  work  ? 

The  following  letter  to  the  Dean  of  St.  Asaph 
relates  first  to  the  offertory  at  morning  service,  and, 
secondly,  to  the  necessity  of  celebrating  the  Holy 
Communion  weekly  in  all  English  Cathedrals  : — 

The  Bishop  of  Oxford  to  the  Dean  of  St.  Asaph. 

Denbigh,  August  24,  1862. 

My  dear  Dean, — My  view  on  the  subject  is  that  the  Offer- 
tory proper  is  so  strictly  a  part  of  the  great  Eucharistic  offering 
that  we  violate,  not  only  a  rubric,  but  a  principle,  when  we 
use  it  with  no  intention  of  proceeding  to  a  Communion,  if  the 
Communicants  present  themselves.  For  this  reason  I  greatly 
prefer  on  a  weekday  morning,  when  it  is  not  intended  to 
offer  to  the  worshippers  the  opportunity  of  communicating, 
that  God's  praises  should  be  sung  in  a  congregational  hymn 
whilst  the  collection  is  made.  My  own  practice  then  is,  that 
the  alms  should  be  brought  to  me  and  placed  on  the  holy 
table,  and  then  I  use  one  of  the  appropriate  collects  at  the 
end  of  the  sentences  before  pronouncing  the  blessing.  May 
I  hope,  as  you  have  done  me  the  honour  of  consulting  me  on 


6o  LIFE   OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.         chap.  ii. 

this,  that  I  shall  not  be  deemed  by  you  obtrusive  if  I  add 
that  I  see  not  how  our  Cathedrals  can  really  hold  their  place 
as  the  Mother  Church  of  the  Diocese  so  long  as  (in  direct 
violation  of  the  rubric)  there  is  not  a  weekly  communion  at 
them.  If  this  be  our  highest  act  of  united  Christian  worship 
how  can  we  look  for  that  full  eiTusion  of  the  Spirit,  without 
which  all  is  vain,  whilst  this  is  omitted.  I  well  know,  both  as 
Canon  and  as  Dean,  the  difficulty  of  altering  an  established 
custom  of  omission  ;  but  I  am  sure  of  the  blessing  which  waits 
on  such  a  restoration.  As  to  the  bidding  prayer,  I  think  it 
comparatively  unimportant— a  mere  matter  of  strict  canonical 
observance.     I  am,  my  dear  Dean,  most  truly  yours, 

S.  OXON. 

The  Bishop's  copying-book  of  this  year  shows  the 
way  in  which  the  Bishop  treated  complaints  made  to 
him  by  parishioners  of  neglect  on  the  part  of  their 
clergyman.  The  clergyman  in  question  was  one  of 
those  who  neglected  the  plain  directions  in  the  Prayer 
Book  when  he  thought  fit.  In  this  particular  instance, 
he  had  omitted  on  St.  Bartholomew's  day,  which  fell 
on  a  Sunday,  to  read  the  Athanasian  Creed  and  the 
Collect,  Epistle  and  Gospel  for  the  Saint's  day.  The 
Bishop  wrote  and  told  him  that  the  proper  course 
would  have  been  to  read  the  Collect,  Epistle,  and 
Gospel  for  the  Saint's  day.  The  clergyman  replied 
that  it  was  a  '  trifling  irregularity,'  and  requested  the 
Bishop  to  give  up  the  name  of  the  person  who  had 
made  the  complaint,  whom  he  denounced  as  a  '  busy- 
body.' To  this  the  Bishop  replied  telling  him  :  i. 
That  neglect  of  the  prescribed  office  was  not  a  trifling 
irregularity  ;  and  2.  That  the  person  who  had  given 
the  information  had  taken  the  '  proper  course  in  com- 
plaining to  the  Bishop.'  The  clergyman  was  obstinate, 
and  refused  •  to  give  any  promise  of  better  behaviour ; 
so  the  Bishop  wrote  him  a  third  letter,  in  which  he  let 
him  see  very  plainly  that  he  could   not    disobey  his 


1 862.  DEATH  OF  THE  ARCHBISHOP.  6t 

Bishop  with  impunity  ;  he  therefore  ordered  him  to 
obey  the  rubrics  or  take  the  consequences.  This  last 
letter  effected  its  object. 

On  September  6  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury 
died  at  the  great  age  of  eighty-two  after  a  long  ill- 
ness. At  the  end  of  August  the  Bishop  had  been 
staying  with  Mr.  Gladstone,  and  the  diary  for  August 
27  records  :  '  Drove  to  x'\ber,  and  walked  up  the  valley 
with  Gladstone,  a  good  deal  of  talk  with  him  about 
Church  promotions,  &c.  He  takes  more  part  than  I 
thought.  But  spoke  of  the  Bishop  of  Chester  as 
bearable  for  Canterbury  ! ! ! '  On  September  5,  referring 
to  this  conversation,  the  Bishop  wrote  to  Mr.  Gladstone 
saying  :  *  If  such  a  conjuncture  happened  as  we  spoke 
of,  Lichfield  or  Winchester  would  be  a  thousand  times 
better  for  the  Church  than  Chester  to  push  into  the 
vacant  chair.'  The  Diary  of  September  7,  the  Bishop's 
birthday,  is  :  '  A  happy  birthday  in  many  respects. 
Sad  about  the  dear  Archbishop's  death.'  The  next 
day  the  Bishop  wrote  to  Mr.  Gladstone  as  follows  : — 

My  dear  Gladstone, — I  wrote  a  few  hasty  lines  this  early 
morning  on  hearing  of  the  Archbishop's  death,  not  knowing 
what  haste  there  might  be  in  resolving  on  the  successor.  I 
still  think  that  the  Archbishop  of  York  would  be  the  best  for 
the  Church  at  Canterbury.  But  I  appreciate  to  the  full  the 
difficulty  as  to  York,  and,  having  respect  to  that,  I  should  very 
earnestly  desire  that  your  influence  should  be  used  for  getting 
the  Bishop  of  Winchester  to  succeed  his  brother.  I  believe 
that,  if  we  are  not  to  have  a  thorough  Churchman,  he  would 
be  far  the  best  man  amongst  us.  He  is  a  capital  adminis- 
trator, an  Eton  scholar  of  that  old  school  dying  out  amongst 
us,  entirely  good,  sound  on  all  main  points  of  the  faith,  a 
gentleman,  and  a  man  of  surpassing  prudence  ;  he  is  in  full 
vigour  of  mind  and  body,  though  70  years  old,  which  therefore 
I  consider  no  disadvantage.  Then  for  Lord  Palmerston 
appointing,  and  your  suggesting  him,  there  is  much  to  be 


62  LIFE   OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.         chap.  ii. 

said.  In  standing,  he  is,  by  seniority  of  the  Episcopate,  the 
oldest  who  could  be  appointed.  It  leaves  a  GOOD  appoint- 
ment for  Lord  Palmerston.  It  would  be  thoroughly  welcomed 
by  the  Evangelical  party  ;  it  would  excite  no  anger  in  others  ; 
it  would,  perhaps  more  than  any  other,  maintain  that  status 
quo  which  I  suppose  he  now  wishes  to  keep,  and  which  you 
may  surely  expect  to  be  maintained.  I  cannot  doubt  but 
that  you  might  secure  an  appointment  so  much  the  natural 
channel  of  Lord  Palmerston's  nomination,  and  that  in  doing 
so  you  would  confer  an  inestimable  benefit  on  the  Church. 
I  hope  you  will  not  think  that  I  do  wrong  in  speaking  so 
plainly  to  you.     I  am  yours  very  affectionately, 

S.  OXON. 

The  Archbishop's  funeral  is  thus  referred  to : — 

September  12. — (Lavington.)  Up  early.  Wrote,  and  off 
to  funeral  of  the  Archbishop.  The  day  beautiful.  Gathering 
of  many  old  friends.  Bishop  of  Winchester  greatly  affected. 
Home,  D.G.,  and  all  well. 

Oil  September  10,  Mr.  Gladstone  wrote  to  the 
Bishop  saying  that  he  had  written  to  Lord  Palmerston 
urging  strongly  the  appointment  of  some  one  who 
combined  in  his  own  person  moderation  with  learning 
and  piety,  and  glancing  favourably  at  age  as  a  con- 
dition of  fitness  for  the  primacy,  and  finally  referring, 
by  way  of  example,  to  the  Archbishop  of  York.  Mr. 
Gladstone  further  said  that  he  thought  this  appointment 
would  not  be  made  ;  yet,  if  it  were,  he  said  that  in  his 
mind  there  was  not  the  smallest  doubt  that  the  Bishop 
was  the  person  who  ought  to  succeed  to  York.  On 
September  25  the  diary  records  : — 

(Doncaster.)  Called  on  Dr.  Vaughan,  who  told  me  that 
the  Archbishop  of  York  had  to-day  received  the  offer  of 
Canterbury  and  accepted.  God  be  praised !  He  can  over- 
rule all. 

The  next  day  he  writes  thus  to  an  intimate 
friend  : — 


1862.  THE  NEW  APPOINTMENTS.  63 

I  suppose  to-morrow's  papers  will  tell  you  that  York 
goes  to  Canterbury  ;  quite  surely  an  answer  to  prayer,  look- 
ing at  what  we  might  have  had.  We  shall  have  peace  and 
holiness,  and  a  steady  adherence  to  Church  principles  in  him. 
God  be  thanked.  ...  I  preached  to  marvellously  still  church 
full  here  (Doncaster)  to-day. 

After  the  appointment  had  been  made  to  Canter- 
bury, Mr.  Gladstone  wrote  to  Lord  Palmerston  strongly 
pressing  the  appointment  of  the  Bishop  of  Oxford  to 
York.  That  Mr.  Gladstone  failed  in  securino-  this 
appointment  for  the  man  whom  all  England  looked 
upon  as  the  most  peculiarly  fitted  for  the  Archbishopric 
of  the  Northern  Province,  and  that  the  Bishop's  former 
curate  was  appointed  instead,  is  now  a  matter  of  history. 
The  following  letter  expresses  the  Bishop's  thanks  to 
Mr.  Gladstone  for  the  part  he  had  taken  : —    • 

The  Bishop  of  Oxford  to  the  Right  Hon. 
W.  E.  Gladstone. 

My  dear  Gladstone, — I  thank  you  from  my  heart  for 
having  let  me  see  your  letter.^  It  humbled  and  it  cheered 
me.  Humbled  me  to  see  how  far  too  kindly  you  judged  of 
me ;  cheered  me  more  than  I  can  say  to  know  that  such  a 
man  as  you  so  wrote  about  me. 

The  next  letter,  written  to  .Sir  C.  Anderson  from 
Bradford,  shows  that  the  Bishop  would  have  been 
willing  and  ready  to  have  accepted  the  charge  : — 

The  Bishop  of  Oxford  to  Sir  Charles  Anderson. 

Bradford,  November  ir,  1862. 

My  dearest  Anderson, — Many  thanks  for  your  cheery 
letter.  I  gave  your  message  to  host  and  hostess.  It  was 
curious  how  indignant  they  were  about  the  appointment. 
Beckett  said  it  was  an  affront  to  Yorkshire.     I  only  wish  he 

^  Mr.  Gladstone's  letter  to  Lord  ralmerston. 


64  LIFE   OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.         chap.  ii. 

would  tell  Palmcrston  so.  There  must  be  some  history,  if 
we  could  get  it,  because  only  last  week  at  Hickleton  Sir  C. 
Wood  told  Admiral  Mcynell  that  I  was  to  be  appointed. 
Well,  it  is  best  as  it  is,  for  those  who  will  make  it  best ;  but 
there  is  no  denying  that  I  should  have  liked,  if  it  had  been 
God's  will,  to  work  amongst  my  father's  people.  The 
meetings  and  services  have  been  most  cheering  :  they  say 
the  largest  congregations  ever  gathered  in  the  parish  church 
on  Sunday  evening  at  Leeds.  Such  a  gathering  last  night 
at  Huddersfield.  I  wish  I  could  come  and  see  you  on  my 
way  out,  but  I  am  going  to  Bridgenorth  to  preach  at  the 
opening  of  the  church,  and  thence  on  Friday  direct  to 
Oxford  and  to  Stony  Stratford.  ...  I  should  like  to  have 
read  your  Bishop's  letter — it  is  quite  a  nice  one.  I  am  ever 
affectionately  yours,  e   Qxon 

The  Archbishopric  of  York  was  offered  in  the  first 
instance  to  the  Bishop  of  London.  Had  he  accepted 
it,  the  following  extract  from  a  diary  entry  at  the  end  of 
the  year  shows  how  Lord  Palmerston  would  have 
filled  up  the  vacancy  : — 

Dcccviher  i6. — (Windsor.)  Talk  with  the  Dean  ;  he  told 
me  that  if  London  had  taken  York  I  was  to  be  offered 
London. 

October'  II. — (Bedgebury.)  After  early  breakfast  and 
prayers,  off  to  Harden  ;  rail  to  Guildford  ;  walked  to  the  top 

of  the    Hog's  Back  ;  rail  to  Alton  ;  ride  with  • towards 

and  on  to  the  Grange  ;  there  the  Carlyles.  Mrs.  Carlyle — 
account  of  E.  Irving  ;  Mrs.  Oliphant  did  not  understand  him 
at  all  ;  his  variety  ;  so  kind — never  depreciated  a  living 
creature  ;  his  love  and  loveableness  the  point  of  his  character  ; 
fond  of  creature  comforts.  ]\Irs.  Oliphant  narrow  and 
jealous,  and  greatly  the  cause  of  submitting  him  to  his  foes. 

October  13. — At  sermon,  and  then  rode  into  Winchester. 
At  Utterton's.  Opening  sermon  ;  cathedral  crowded  ;  Bishop 
of  Winchester  thanked  me  with  emotion.  Lord  Palmerston 
at  meeting  ;  very,  very  clever — twisted  one  sentence  of  mine 
sorely. 


1 862.         THE  BISHOP  AND  LORD  PALMERSTON.  65 

The  sentence   the  Bishop   here   alludes   to   was  : 

'  The  schoolmasters  are  to  be  religious  teachers not 

teachers  of  religion.'  Lord  Palmerston  took  this 
sentence  as  implying  that  the  schoolmasters  were  only 
to  teach  secular  matters  ;  whereas  what  the  Bishop 
meant  was  that  the  master  was  not  to  supersede  the 
religious  teaching  of  the  clergyman  in  the  school  or  to 
release  the  latter  in  any  degree  from  his  functions  as 
teacher  of  religion. 

The  two  following  extracts  from  speeches  illustrate 
one  of  the  Bishop's  greatest  powers  ;  that  of  catching 
the  attention  of  his  audience  by  some  familiar  simile, 
and  through  it  leading  them  up  to  a  higher  level 
than  they  were  accustomed  to,  and  so  teaching  them 
the  lesson  he  had  to  impart. 

The  first  was  delivered  in  May,  at  Sheffield,  the 
audience  being  working  men.  The  second  in  October 
to  some  children,  who,  with  their  parents,  were  as- 
sembled at  some  new  schools  in  the  parish  of  War- 
grave,  in  the  Oxford  Diocese,  which  were  opened  by 
the  Bishop. 

Shortly  after  the  conclusion  of  the  meeting  ^  at  Shef- 
field, the  Bishop  of  Oxford,  Lord  Wharncliffe,  EarlFitz- 
william,  the  Vicar  of  Sheffield,  and  several  of  the  local 
clergy  proceeded  to  the  Atlas  Steel  Spring  and  Iron 
Works.  In  the  armour-plate  works,  the  party  were 
afforded  the  opportunity  of  witnessing  the  rollino-  of 
one  of  the  enormous  iron  plates  for  one  of  the  new 
ironclad  frigates,  and  were  evidently  greatly  interested.^ 
The  Bessemer  process  was  also  shown  in  full  opera- 
tion. At  six  o'clock  the  business  of  the  works  was 
temporarily  suspended,  and  the  workmen  assembled 
in  front  of  a  platform  which  had  been  raised  in  one  of 


'  On  behalf  of  the  Honolulu  Mission. 
^  From  The  Gtiardiait, 

VOL.  III.  F 


66  LIFE  OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.  chap.  ii. 

the  yards,  Mr.  J.  D.  Ellis  introduced  the  Bishop  of 
Oxford,  who  had  consented  to  speak  to  the  workmen. 
The  Bishop  said  he  was  glad  to  have  the  opportunity 
of  saying  a  few  words  to  such  an  assemblage  : — 

By  the  blessing  of  God  a  word  spoken  at  such  a  time 
might  be  the  means  of  doing  great  good.  He  thought  that 
in  the  special  work  in  which  they  were  engaged  they  had  a 
sort  of  parable  of  their  daily  life  set  before  them.  Their 
work  in  dealing  with  iron  involved  long  preparation,  and, 
above  all,  care  that  the  metal  was  purged  of  all  dross  and 
evil  mixtures,  before  they  could  make  anything  worth  having 
in  their  trade.  He  had  been  watching  the  Bessemer  process, 
and  saw  that  the  cold  draught  of  air  through  the  boiling 
metal  blew  out  a  multitude  of  sparks,  all  speaking  of  the 
burning  up  of  the  dross,  in  order  that  the  pure  metal  might 
be  left  free  and  fit  for  its  work — ^just  such  was  the  parable 
of  their  life  and  his.  The  difficulties,  and  struggles,  and 
temptations  of  this  world  were  as  the  draught  of  cold  air 
poured  on  to  the  heated  iron  ;  it  was  done  for  a  purpose, 
done  with  a  good  will,  in  order  that  the  soul  of  man  might, 
through  God's  grace  breathing  upon  it  and  removing  all  the 
evil  out  of  it,  be  made  fit  for  the  Master's  use  ;  and  just  as 
any  failure  in  the  work  would  be  shown  when  the  metal  came 
to  be  hammered,  by  its  not  being  able  to  bear  the  strain,  so 
would  any  failure  in  the  moral  and  religious  training  of  his 
hearers  be  apparent  on  the  great  day  of  trial.  In  the  other 
workshop  there  was  the  same  parable,  set  somewhat  dif- 
ferently. They  might  make  an  armour  plate  which  would 
look  well  to  the  eye,  and  might  seem  as  good  as  the  others 
when  it  was  fastened  on  to  the  ship's  side ;  but  the  day 
might  come  when  that  ship  would  be  engaged  in  a  fierce 
conflict,  and  then,  if  there  had  been  any  carelessness  in  the 
the  rolling  of  that  plate,  it  might  result  in  the  destruction  of 
the  ship.  So  it  was  with  man — worldly  thoughts  would 
creep  in  during  moments  in  which  the  soul  was  engaged  in 
perfecting  its  spiritual  armour.  On  the  moment  of  trial, 
instead  of  that  armour  casting  back  the  bolts  of  the  Evil  One, 
and  leaving  its   wearer  standing  strong  in  the  regenerated 


i862.  ADDRESS   TO  SCHOOL   CHILDREN. 


67 


strength  of  Christ,  it  would  break  down,  and  leave  him  an 
eternal  wreck. 

The  following  is  the  speech  to  the  school  children 
at  Wargrave  : — 

My  dear  children — you  whom  I  see  down  at  the  far  end 
of  the  room — remember  you  are  the  first  to  use  it,  and  do 
not  mar,  so  far  as  you  are  concerned,  this  work  by  not  using 
it  heartily.  Remember,  it  is  not  the  building  of  the  school 
alone,  or  the  appointment  of  a  good  schoolmaster  or  mistress  ; 
there  must  be  a  hearty  will  to  learn  and  profit  in  the  scholars, 
if  there  is  to  be  any  real  good  work  done.  And  then  I  may 
see,  perhaps,  some  of  the  parents  of  these  scholars.  You 
have  a  great  work  to  do.  You  must  support  the  clergy,  and 
the  schoolmaster  and  mistress,  in  their  work  with  your 
children  if  you  mean  them  to  produce  a  good  effect ;  and  you 
will  not  do  this  without  a  struggle  many  times  between 
natural  softness  and  parental  instinct  and  a  real  care  for  the 
children's  good.  Improvement  and  education  are  stopped 
altogether  in  some  parishes,  so  far  as  many  children  are  con- 
cerned, by  parents  doing  what  they  call  taking  their 
children's  part,  when  they  are  chastised  with  a  deserved 
chastisement.  There  is  no  greater  cruelty  to  the  child  than 
to  teach  it  to  set  itself  against  its  teachers  or  pastors,  by  what 
you  think  is  '  showing  a  little  spirit '  on  its  behalf.  Beware 
of  that.  With  some  parents  there  is  something  like  a  burning 
fever  which  shows  itself  in  great  earnestness  on  the  child's 
behalf,  and  there  is  among  others  a  low  fever  which  is  a 
carelessness  as  to  whether  the  child  is  at  school  or  not,  and 
keeping  the  children  away  upon  the  slightest  excuse.  Irregu- 
larity would  ruin  any  school,  as  it  injures  not  only  the 
children  who  stay  away,  but  the  others  who  attend  ;  the  one 
half,  being  imperfect,  delays  the  other  half  in  its  progress. 
Like  a  comb  that  has  got  some  teeth  broken  out,  which 
renders  it  very  inconvenient  in  its  vocation — it  gives  the 
hair  a  terrible  pull  instead  of  combing  it  out  straight.  These 
children  are  the  broken  teeth  of  our  parish ;  they  give  the 
others  a  twist  till  they  cry  out,  as  the  man  does  when  his 
hair  gets  a  tremendous  pull.     They  must  comb  the  parish 


68  LIFE   OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.  chap.  II. 

smooth  with  the  comb  of  regular  attendance.  You  parents 
cannot  put  too  much  vakie  upon  that.  The  children  learn 
very  soon  not  to  care  about  it  much  if  they  see  you 
careless.  Unless  there  is  that  self-denying  determination  in 
parents  of  the  scholars  that  the  children  shall  be  made  to 
come,  and  having  come,  be  made  to  obey,  no  good  will  be 
done.  And  perhaps,  after  all,  that  is  the  greatest  lesson  they 
could  learn — better  than  geography  or  history — that  they  are 
under  authority,  under  God's  Word,  and  they  will  never  do 
any  good  unless  they  bow  their  neck  to  the  yoke  ;  that  is  the 
lesson  above  all  lessons,  because  it  is  at  the  root  of  honesty, 
cutting  down  pretence  and  cutting  down  to  the  foundation  of 
a  straightforward  labouring  character  in  whatever  rank  of 
life.  And,  depend  upon  it,  these  are  the  people,  after  all, 
who  do  the  business  of  their  country,  and  of  their  Church — 
aye,  and  of  themselves  too.  Nobody  does  anything  in  this 
world  whose  mind  is  made,  like  the  legs  of  a  grasshopper,  for 
giving  jumps  now  and  then,  instead  of  going  steadily  on 
every  day  doing  his  duty,  and  carrying  the  load  of  every 
day,  like  the  patient  ox,  who,  though  he  may  be  slow,  is,  at 
all  events,  sure.  And  so  try,  I  do  pray  you,  use  the  school 
for  that  purpose,  and  then  it  will  not  only  be,  as  it  is,  a 
beautiful  thing  to  look  at,  to  all  the  country  round,  but  there 
will  be  within  a  nearer  and  a  better  beauty  of  well-trained 
lads  and  lasses,  who  shall  grow  up  hereafter  into  well-trained 
men  and  women  to  take  up  the  tradition  of  work  from  the 
last  generation  and  carry  it  on  to  the  next  generation,  so 
that  this  our  goodly  parish  of  Wargrave  shall  be  a  praise  in 
the  diocese  and  a  praise  in  the  land  and  a  praise  upon  earth, 
and  yield  good  fruit  to  be  gathered  into  the  Lord's  garner 
in  the  great  day  of  the  soul's  harvest. 

The  next  day  the  Bishop  started  for  Scotland, 
where  he  got  a  few  days'  rest. 

October  19. — (Edinburgh.)  Got  ready  sermon  on  paralytic 
and  absolution.  Great  congregation.  Afternoon  heard  Guthrie. 
Eloquent,  familiar,  slip  slop  ;  some  very  good  things.  Sheep 
other  side  of  glen  going  in  beaten  path.  Newton  coming  back 
and  finding  people  knew  more. 


1862.  SCOTTISH  MORALS.  69 

October  22. — (Archerfield).  Morning  talk  with  Mr.  Nisbet 
Hamilton  about  Scotland.  A  frightful  change  for  the  worse 
passing  over  the  people.  The  Establishment  does  not  now 
contain  professedly  one-third  of  the  population.  The  weight 
of  its  ministry  gone.  The  morals  of  the  people  fearfully 
declining — a  very  low  estimate.  The  officiating  clerk  in  his 
own  village  drunk  every  Saturday  night.  Drunk  on  sacra- 
ment wine  stolen  on  the  morning  of  celebration.  Whereupon 
he  discharged  him  from  his  service.  But  all  the  Presbytery 
petitioned  for  his  restoration,  for  fear  he  should  join  the  Free 
Church.  If  the  English  marriage  law  was  in  force,  quite  half 
the  children  would  be  base-born.  The  Meenisters  never  visit. 
Dr.  Macleod,  after  being  ten  years  minister  of  the  Barony 
Church,  Glasgow,  said  he  had  never  but  once  been  at  a  death- 
bed, and  then  by  accident. 

Dean  Ramsay's  story  of  Sir  W.  Maxwell,  and  the  old 
Lord  Galloway,  grandfather  of  present,  and  a  very  proud  man. 
Sir  W.  Maxwell  went  to  call,  and  in  conversation  Lord 
Galloway  intimated  that  he  received  such  neighbours  on  a 
Thursday,  when  Sir  W.  replied  :  '  I  know  but  ay  Lord  wha 
has  a  day  of  his  own,  and,  God  forgive  me,  for  I  often  do  not 
observe  that,  and  I'll  be  Jiangcd  if  I  observe  the  day  of  any 
ither  Lord.' 

Letters  many.  Walked  with  Anderson  to  shore.  After- 
noon to  Tantallon  with  him.  Professor  Aytoun  recited  lays, 
and  told  at  night  excellent  stories. 

October  2^. — Up  and  prepared  sermon.  Morning  very 
unfavourable,  but  cleared.  To  North  Berwick.  Numbers  of 
stone  curlews,  plovers,  &c.,  about  fields.  Preached,  &c.,  with 
interest.  All  seemed  moved.  Free  Church  people  stayed  to 
Communion.  Aytoun  and  Napier  specially  attentive.  Sermon 
on  Worship. 

Referring  to  this  sermon,  the  Right  Hon.  R.  A. 
Nisbet  Hamilton,  who  was  the  Bishop's  host,  writes  to 
Sir  Charles  Anderson  :  '  The  Bishop  of  Oxford's 
sermon  made  so  great  an  impression,  that  some  rabid 
Free  Kirk  ladles  who  listened  to  it  remained  to  receive 
the  Sacrament  from  him.     This  is  very  remarkable.' 


70  LIFE   OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.  chap.  li. 

On  the  30th  he  was  back  again  in  the  Diocese, 
the  entry  for  that  day  being  :  '  Wycombe  meeting, 
Disraeh's  speech.  All  his  talk  with  me  aiming  at 
Gladstone.  "  I  and  others  kept  the  Church  as  his 
nest-egg  when  he  became  a  Whig,  till  it  was  almost 
addled."  ' 

A  day  or  two  before  this  meeting,  Mr.  Disraeli 
writes  to  the  Bishop  as  follows  :  '  I  hope  we  may  have 
a  good  meeting.  It  is  now  or  never  with  the  laity. 
If  they  move,  all  will  be  right ;  but  we  have  trQublous 
times  before  us.  I  wish  you  could  have  induced 
Gladstone  to  have  joined  Lord  Derby's  Government, 
when  Lord  Ellenborough  resigned  in  1858.  It  was 
not  my  fault  he  did  not.  I  almost  went  on  my  knees 
to  him.  Had  he  done  so,  the  Church,  and  everything 
else,  would  have  been  in  a  very  different  position.' 

The  following  letter  gives  the  Bishop's  opinions  on 
what  was  afterwards  known  as  the  Confraternity  of 
the  Blessed  Sacrament : — 


The  Bishop  of  Oxford  to  the  Rev.  T.  T.  Carter. 

Dec.  15,  1862. 

My  dear  Carter, — I  have  looked  at  the  little  book  you 
were  so  kind  as  to  give  me  concerning  the  Holy  Communion, 
and  I  am  sorry  to  say  that  I  do  not  at  all  approve  of  the  idea 
of  which  it  is  the  embodiment.  It  appears  to  me  to  be 
absolutely  diverse  from  the  tone  of  primitive  Christianity  and 
of  our  own  Church.  I  remember  no  parallel,  save  in  some  of 
the  most  modern  Romish  devotions.  Confraternities  for 
living  together  for  work  or  for  the  maintenance  of  a  life  of 
devotion  and  prayer,  are  quite  another  matter ;  but  a  con- 
fraternity bound  together  only — if  really  for  anything — for 
the  exaltation  of  the  Blessed  Sacrament,  the  common  instru- 
ment of  communion  with  Christ  for  all  believers,  seems  to  me 
either  unmeaning  or  unwarrantable  and  full  of  many  dangers 
very  likely  to  lead  to  superstition,  to  self-exaltation,  and  to 


iS62.  LETTER   TO  MR.    CARTER.  7 1 

an  abuse  of  the  Blessed  Sacrament  in  those  who  join  it,  and 
almost  certain  to  lead,  by  a  reaction,  amongst  others  to  a 
lowering  of  the  true  doctrine  of  the  Church  concerning  the 
Holy  Eucharist,  whilst  it  is  quite  sure  to  stir  up  a  vast 
amount  of  prejudice  from  its  singularly  un-English  and 
Popish  tone,  which  prejudice  will  address  itself,  not  merely  to 
attack  excess,  but  to  pull  down  truth.  Surely  our  own 
Bishop  Andrewes  had  drawn  from  God's  Word  and  primitive 
antiquity  and  the  inner  teaching  of  the  Spirit  the  highest 
views  of  this  Blessed  Sacrament,  and  yet  how  utterly  different 
is  his  tone  from  that  of  this  proposal.  I  entreat  you,  my 
dear  friend,  to  reconsider  this  matter.  Believing  that  the 
revival  of  the  full  Eucharistic  temper  in  our  Church,  in  its 
purity,  would  be  as  great  a  gift  as  our  God  could  give  to  us, 
I  view  with  the  utmost  jealousy  any  tendency  to  ally  that 
reviving  earnestness  to  the  unrealities  and  morbid  develop- 
ments of  modern  Romanism,  You  may  do  much  one  way 
or  the  other.  I  entreat  you  to  reconsider  the  matter  for 
yourself,  and  as  Bishop  I  exhort  you  to  use  no  attempts  to 
spread  this  confraternity  amongst  the  clergy  and  religious 
people  of  my  diocese.     I  am  always  your  most  affectionate 

S.   OXON. 

December  13. — (Bray.)  After  breakfast  prepared  sermon 
on  '  The  Renewer.'  Oh  for  some  touch  of  His  renovating 
hand  in  my  deepest  being !  Preached  with  interest.  The 
morning  wet  and  congregation  thinned — but  many  clergy  and 
others.  Then  to  Hibberts  to  luncheon,  where  many.  Madame 
Van  de  Weyer  most  cordial.  Then  home  and  wrote  with 
Archdeacon  Randall,  and  off  by  Reading  to  North  Camp 
station,  and  to  Farnham.  I  strangely  overset ;  almost 
expecting  to  find  her  coming  to  this  bedroom  in  which  I 
write,  and  which  we  occupied  together.  Oh  life  !  Oh  death ! 
Oh  blessed  Will  of  God,  to  Thee  I  bow  ! 

December  16. — After  breakfast  and  little  walk  off  for  North 
Camp  ;  to  Wellington  College.  Sir  W.  Joliffe,  Sir  W.  Hayter, 
and  many  clergy.  Consecration.  Then  to  Windsor  Castle 
with  Blunt  and  Stanley  ;  much  talk  with  him.  Queen  sent 
for  me,   and  half-hour's   talk.     Very  natural  and   affecting. 


72  LIFE   OF  BISHOP    U'lLBERFORCE.  chap.  li. 

Constant  talk  of  Prince — of  my  sorrow.  Never  saw  her 
so  womanly  winning.  Dinner  with  suite.  Then  Prince 
of  Wales  sent  for  me ;  talk  with  him.  Prince  Louis  very 
friendly. 

The  following  refers  to  this  the  Bishop's  first  visit 
to  Windsor,  and  first  interview  with  the  Queen,  after 
the  death  of  the  Prince  Consort  : — 

The  Bishop  of  Oxford  to  Sir  Charles  Andersoji. 

Windsor  Castle,  December  17. 

My  dearest  Anderson, — I  am  just  home  from  the  conse- 
cration of  the  mausoleum — one  of  the  most  touching  scenes 
I  ever  saw,  to  see  our  Queen  and  the  file  of  fatherless  chil- 
dren walk  in  and  kneel  down  in  those  solemn  prayers. 
I  had  a  half-hour's  talk  with  her  yesterday  and  nothing 
could  be  more  delightful,  so  gentle,  so  affectionate,  so  true, 
so  real — no  touch  of  morbidness — quite  cheerful,  and  so  kind. 
She  spoke  of  the  great  sorrow  of  my  life.  ...  A  sister 
could  not  have  been  more  tender.  ...  I  go  to  Cuddesdon 
this  evening.     I  am  ever  your  affectionate  c    ovnv 

It  will  be  remembered  that  one  of  the  rules  the 
Bishop  made  for  himself  was  :  *  Never  to  hurry  men 
when  they  come  to  consult  you.'  ^  This  letter  shows 
not  only  the  great  affection  he  bore  towards  Mr. 
Swinny,  but  also  an  enduring  recollection  of  the 
resolutions  made  on  entering  the  episcopate. 

The  Bishop  of  Oxford  to  the  Rev.  H.  H.  Swinny. 

November  25,  1S62. 

My  dearest  Principal, — I  have  been  unhappy  ever  since  I 
came  away  lest  I  should  have  /mn'ied  you  in  that  short 
interview.  I  hope  I  did  not.  I  know  I  did  not,  because  I 
could  not,  show  you  any  of  the  deep  affection  I  bear  you,  or 
of  my  continual  remembrance  of  you  labouring  on  in  your 

3  Vol.  i.  p.  320. 


1862.  ORDINATION  STORY.  73 

high  calling  in  the  midst  of  such  weakness  of  the  body. 
Believe  me,  it  is  a  spur  and  incentive  to  my  idleness  you  can- 
not dream  of.  May  our  loving  Lord  be  very  very  near  to  you 
in  all  your  work  and  in  your  own  soul.  I  am,  your  very 
affectionate,  c   Qvon 

Dcce7nber  21. — Morning,  alarm  that  Warden  of  All  (Souls) 
could  not  preach.  I  hastily  prepared.  I  find  this  hurrying 
tell  more  and  more  on  me,  leaving  an  intense  fatigue — longing 
almost  irresistible  to  sleep.  Great  temptation  at  such  times 
to  irritability.  Spero  kept  down.  The  Warden  preached  a 
noble  sermon.    Day  ended  with  Chapter  dinner  as  usual. 

A  characteristic  story  of  one  of  the  Bishop's  earlier 
Ordinations  may  well  be  quoted  in  this  place.  The 
story  is  given  in  the  writer's  own  words  : — 

I  was  a  candidate  for  Priest's  orders  at  the  Bishop  of 
Oxford's  January  Ordination.  We  were  one  day  busily 
occupied,  seated  round  a  long  table,  answering  the  questions, 
when  the  Bishop  entered  to  inspect  us.  Struck  by  his  youth- 
ful appearance,  I  remarked  rather  above  a  whisper  to  a  friend 
sitting  next  me,  '  Why,  the  Bishop  looks  younger  than  some 
of  the  men.'  Immediately  after  we  were  separately  summoned 
to  a  personal  interview  in  the  Bishop's  study.  My  name 
happened  to  be  the  first  called  ;  and  after  translating,  as 
directed,    a   few  verses  of  the  Epistle   to  Timothy,   '  Now, 

Mr. ,'  said  the  Bishop,  '  will  you  tell  me  something  about 

Timothy  .-'  He  was  a  young  man,  was  he  not  ? '  I  of  course 
assented.  'Well,'  his  Lordship  went  on,  'did  St.  Paul  think 
that  a  disqualification  for  his  office  as  a  Bishop  } '  Then, 
when  I,  rather  conscience-stricken,  was  bungling  out  some 
reply,  he  fixed  his  eye  upon  me  with  that  keen  searching 
gaze,  by  which  he  looked  one  through,  and  said  :  '  Don't  you 
remember  his  words  .''  "  Let  no  man  despise  thy  youth."  '  The 
look  and  the  tone  were  quite  clear,  and  I  mentally  resolved 
not  to  hazard  remarks  on  the  personal  appearance  of  a  Bishop, 
at  all  events  till  I  was  safely  ordained. 

I  remember  an  instance  of  his  well-known  power  of  recall- 
insf   faces  and    of  his   kindness  of    heart.      Ordained   to   a 


74  LIFE   OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.  CHAP.  II. 

College  title,  I  left  the  diocese  after  the  ordination,  and  did 
not  meet  the  Bishop  for  six  or  seven  years.  Being  in  Oxford 
one  summer,  I  was  luxuriating  under  the  shade  of  the  grand 
elms  of  Christ  Church  Walk,  when  the  Bishop,  accompanied 
by  a  large  party  of  guests,  came  past.  I  rose  and  took  off 
my  hat,  when,  apparently  instantly  recognising  me,  he  left 
his  friends,  one  of  whom  was  M.  Guizot,  then  a  visitor  at 
Cuddesdon,  and,  stepping  aside,  greeted  me  with  a  hearty 
shake  of  the  hand.  He  may  not  have  known  my  name,  but 
his  kindly  motive  was  clear,  and  it  was  by  such  little  acts  of 
graciousness  as  by  other  ways  that  he  attached  to  him  not 
only  the  clergy  over  whom  he  presided,  but  those  who,  like 
myself,  had  no  claim  except  a  temporary  acquaintance  on  his 
notice. 

The  following  entries  record  the  death  of  the  Rev. 
H.  H.  Swinny,  the  Principal  of  Cuddesdon  College. 
Mr.  Swinny  was  appointed  Principal  in  1859  on  the 
resignation  of  the  Rev.  A.  Pott.  It  was  a  critical 
period  in  the  history  of  the  College.  The  Bishop  was 
determined  to  make  certain  changes  In  the  College — 
he  was  equally  determined  that  such  changes  should 
not  appear  to  be  owing  to  the  attacks.  This  Is  shown 
by  a  letter  to  Mr.  Swinny,  written  in  1858. 

The  more  I  think  over  Cuddesdon  College,  the  more  I  feel 
that  I  cannot,  consistently  with  what  is  due  to  my  character, 
make  any  apparently  marked  alteration  in  its  management 
under  the  present  storm  of  attack  which  is  breaking  on  it. 
These  attacks  aim  not  at  the  points  in  which  I  see  danger  or 
room  for  improvement,  but  at  the  fundamental  character  of 
the  College  as  a  place  for  training  men  in  the  sacramental 
principles  of  our  Church. 

December  23. — Just  before  starting  for  Colnbrook  the 
news  of  dear  Swinny's  sudden  death  smote  on  my  breast. 
What  a  loss  to  the  family,  the  Church,  our  Diocese,  the 
College,  Cuddesdon,  me  !  God  be  merciful.  Quite  overset 
by  it. 

Deceinher   25. — (Cuddesdon.)      With  poor   Mrs.    Swinny 


i862.  THE  REV.  H.  H.   SVVINNY. 


75 


before  evening  service  ;  very  affecting.  Spoke  to  the  children 
in  the  room,  with  their  father  stretched  so  silent  and  calm  on 
the  sofa. 

The  Bishop,  writing  to  a  great  friend,  thus  testifies 
of  Mr.  Swinny's  work  in  the  College : — 

It  is  most  cheering  to  see  how  really  his  character  did 
manifest  itself  to  the  inward  perception  of  those  who  were 
capable  of  comprehending  such  noble  greatness.  Liddon's 
letter  specially  strikes  me  for  the  remarkable  truth,  which  has 
occurred  to  me,  of  the  deepening  lines  of  his  influence. 

And  again : — 

Nothing  can  be  more  marked  than  the  way  in  which 
Swinny  lifted  up  the  whole  tone  of  the  College,  and  I  doubt 
not  for  an  instant  that  in  many  an  earnest  ministry  *  he  yet 
speaketh.* 


76  LIFE  OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.        chap.  hi. 


CHAPTER  III. 

(1863.) 

MR.  HADFIELD'S  bill— correspondence  with  MR.  GLADSTONE — PRINCE 
OF  WALES'S  MARRIAGE — THE  BISHOP  ON  DISPENSATIONS — UNIVERSITY  SER- 
MONS— LETTER  TO  MR.  GORDON — SPEECH  ON  CRAM — CHARGE  OF  1863 — 
ADVICE  ON    PREACHING— LETTER  TO  MR.    GORDON. 

January  17. — S.  Walpole  told  me  of  his  talk  with  old 
Henley.  '  I  said,  What  a  shame  that  Palmerston  did  not 
send  your  Bishop  to  York  ;  I  hope  we  should  have  done  so.' 
Henley  :  '  Don't  think  I  don't  respect  him  ;  he  has  these  three 
large  counties  to  look  after,  and  never  had  schoolmaster  three 
forms  more  under  his  thumb.  He  knows  all  our  raws,  and 
we  know  his  whip.' 

The  following  extract  from  a  letter  to  Sir  C. 
Anderson  relates  to  the  recent  appointments  : — 

My  clergy  have  requested  me  (stirred  up,  I  think,  to  a 
demonstration  by  their  affectionate  indignation  as  to  the  two 
primacies)  to  sit  for  my  portrait  for  them,  and  they  desire  me 
to  fix  the  painter.* 

The  following  correspondence  with  Mr.  Gladstone 
relating  to  a  proposal  of  Mr.  Hadfield  to  abolish  the 
declaration  made  by  Mayors  that  they  would  not  use 
their  office  against  the  Established  Church  brings  out 
very  clearly  the  Bishop's  opinions  on  the  relation  of 
the  Church  of  England  towards  Dissenters.  Before 
entering  upon  the  correspondence  he  wrote  the  follow- 
ing letter  to  Dr.  Hamilton,  Bishop  of  Salisbury,  asking 
him  his  opinion  : — 

'  This  portrait  of  the  Bishop  in  his  robes  was  painted  by  George  Richmond, 
Esq.,  R.A.,  and  was  placed  in  Cuddesdon  Palace. 


1863.  MR.   HAD  FIELD'S  BILL.  'J'J 

March  11,  1865. 
My  dearest  Bishop, — Yesterday,  at  Windsor,  Gladstone 
settled  on  me  quite  fiercely  to  secure  my  support  of  Had- 
lield's  Bill  for  doing  away  the  declaration  of  Mayors,  &c.,  that 
they  will  not  use  their  municipal  offices  against  the  Church. 
Gladstone  says  it  is  no  security  ;  it  is  a  mere  ban  fixed  on 
Dissenters,  &c.  *  If  you  will  not  give  up  this,  you  will  give  up 
nothing,'  &c.  I  replied  :  '  Why  should  we  give  it  up  ?  We  gain 
nothing  instead.  It  is  no  stigma  ;  it  is  simply  saying,  "  There 
is  an  Established  Church,  and  whilst,  in  the  fulness  of  our 
tolerance,  we  admit  all  Dissenters  to  all  places,  we  make 
them  assert  that  they  will  not  use  their  municipal  position 
against  the  Established  Church."  Then,'  I  said,  '  all  the  real 
supporters  of  the  Church  will  look  on  it  as  a  desertion,'  &c. 
Now,  will  you  weigh  the  matter,  and  tell  me  your  mind  ?  I 
hate  thus  thwarting  him.     Yours  ever  affectionately, 

S.  OXON. 

The  Bishop  of  Salisbury's  answer  was  this  quotation 
from  the  '  Guardian '  of  the  previous  week  : — 

It  is,  of  course,  true  that  the  Church  is  in  no  danger  from 
Dissenters  as  regards  her  inner  life  and  essential  interests, 
but  there  is  much  that  Dissenters  wish  to  take  from  her  and 
that  her  friends  desire  to  retain,  and  which,  were  they  to 
cease  to  exert  themselves,  would  be  in  no  little  danger. 

The  Right  Hon.  W.  E.  Gladstone  to  the 
Bishop  of  Oxford. 

Cliveden,  Maidenhead,  March  15,  1863. 

My  dear  Bishop  of  Oxford, — I  had  thought  of  making 
some  inquiry  respecting  the  rather  mysterious  account  you 
give  me  of  the  latent  purpose  of  Mr.  Hadfield's  Bill  for 
abolishing  the  declaration  by  which  persons  acceding  to 
offices  renounce  all  intention  to  injure  the  Established  Church 
by  means  of  their  official  powers. 

But  on  reflection  I  cannot  think  it  necessary  ;  for,  as  I 
apprehend  the  matter,  no  one  is  obliged  to  take  this  declara- 
tion at  all.     I  took  it  myself  last  year  as  Elder  Brother  of  the 


78  LIFE  OF  BISHOP   WILBERFORCE.        chap.  hi. 

Trinity  House,  in  which  capacity  I  have  no  duty  whatever  to 
discharge  except,  I  believe,  to  appoint  an  *  almsbody '  once  in 
five  or  ten  years.  As  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer  I  have 
not  taken  it.  An  annual  Act  of  Indemnity  passes,  with  your 
consent,  to  dispense  with  it,  and  all  who  choose  avail  them- 
selves of  the  dispensation. 

I  put  it  to  you  that,  if  this  be  so,  the  declaration  ought 
not  to  be  maintained  upon  the  Statute  Book.  If  it  is  right 
to  require  of  certain  persons  that  they  should  declare  some- 
thing on  behalf  of  the  Established  Church,  the  law,  and  not 
the  individual,  should  define  who  those  persons  shall  be.  An 
established  l&gdil  pi'CEinunire  of  self-exemption  is  fatal  to  the 
law.  If  you  are  right  in  saying  (which  I  have  never  heard 
elsewhere)  that  men  wish  to  escape  the  declaration  in  order 
that  they  may  carry  their  municipal  paraphernalia  in  state  to 
Dissenting  chapels,  it  is  plain  that  they  can  do  it  now,  and 
therefore  the  declaration  cannot  be  maintained  on  the  plea 
that  it  prevents  them,  for  it  does  not.  If  I  am  told  that  the 
mere  abstract  existence  of  such  a  declaration,  counteracted 
as  it  is  by  the  indemnity,  deters  the  flesh  and  blood  of 
Dissenting  mayors  from  such  a  use  oi  the  paraphernalia,  such 
a  reply,  I  must  say,  appears  to  me  to  be  fanciful.  In  short, 
if  this  Bill  is  not  to  be  supported,  it  is  better  to  profess 
thorough-going  obstructiveness  at  once,  and  to  say  that 
nothing  shall  be  yielded  except  to  force,  for  that  is  what  the 
whole  matter  comes  to.  We  will  not  let  the  State  marriage 
law  be  changed,  with  an  express  exemption  for  the  Church 
marriage  law,  because  we  say  the  freedom  thus  given  is 
worthless.  We  will  not  let  Mr.  Bouverie's  unhappy  clergy  be 
*  relieved,'  although  his  Bill  contains  such  recognition  of  disci- 
pline in  the  Church  as  has  scarce  been  known  for  200  years, 
again  showing  that  we  set  no  value  upon  freedom.  Then 
comes  up  Mr.  Hadfield's  Bill,  so  little  as  to  be  almost  in- 
visible, and  that  is  not  to  be  supported  because  it  takes 
something  away,  and  gives  no  freedom  in  return.  It  is  quite 
obvious  that  if  the  consideration  of  these  measures  is  to  be 
approached  in  such  a  frame  of  mind,  we  shall  be  simply 
doing  in  our  day  what  Eldon  and  Inglis  did  in  theirs.  I 
must  say  that  it  is  not  my  idea  of  my  stewardship,  and   I 


1 863.  THE  BISHOPS  OBJECTIONS.  79 

think  that  if  we  do  the  same  thing,  after  we  have  seen  and 
deplored  the  consequences  of  their  policy,  we  shall  do  it,  not 
with  the  same,  but  with  a  far  greater  responsibility.  Relieve 
me  affectionately  yours,  ^^  ^  Gladstone. 

The  Bishop  of  Oxford  to  the  Right  Hon. 
W.  E.  Gladstone. 

Englefield  House,  March  19,  1S63. 

My  dear  Gladstone, — I  cannot  express  to  you  the  pain  it 
gives  me  to  differ  from  your  conclusions  in  such  a  matter  as 
this.  I  agree  with  all  your  general  principles,  and  I  think 
that  in  two  signal  instances,  the  Oxford  University  Bill  and 
the  Clergy  Reserves,  I  have  shown  that  no  obloquy  would 
prevent  my  acting  on  them  in  any  case  to  which  they  seemed 
to  me  properly  to  apply.  My  doubt  in  this  case  is  whether 
they  do  apply,  and  I  must  ask  you  to  weigh  those  doubts 
well. 

I  admit  that  there  is  great  force  in  your  argument  from 
the  indemnity  ;  and  I  am  ready  to  admit  that  I  was  mis- 
informed as  to  the  attendance  with  the  insignia  of  office  at 
meetings.  For,  unless  5  Geo.  I.  cap.  iv.  is  repealed,  there  is 
certainly  a  distinct  prohibition  of  this  in  England.  But 
there  remains  behind  my  main  difficulty.  I  am  ready  (i)  to 
surrender  exclusive  privileges  for  liberty ;  (2)  I  am  ready  to 
surrender  them  if  they  interfere  with  the  legitimate  use  of 
liberties  granted  to  others. 

Now,  I  do  not  see  that  this  declaration  does  any  of  these, 
nor  is  any  liberty  granted  in  exchange  for  the  surrender. 
The  Indemnity  Act  makes  it  easy  for  anyone  having  any 
scruple  about  the  declaration  to  take  his  office  without 
making  it.  But  you  argue  the  surrender  is  nothing,  because 
of  the  Indemnity.  Now,  (i)  if  it  is  nothing,  why  is  it  so 
urgently  sought  for  by  a  body  professedly  banded  together 
to  put  an  end  to  the  union  between  Church  and  State.  But 
(2)  are  they  not  right  in  thinking  that  it  is  something  }  For 
whilst  it  remains  on  the  Statute-book  it  is  a  declaration  that 
it  is  the  will  of  the  people  of  England  that  an  Established 
Church   should  be  maintained,  though  it  opens  all  offices  to 


8o  LIFE  OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.         chap.  hi. 

Dissenters  from  it.     Now  the  loss  incurred  in  taking  away 
such  a  declaration  which  actually  exists  seems  to  me  to  be 
measurable,   not   by   the   difference   of  its   existing    or   not 
existing  (which,  I  admit,  is  very  small),  but  by  the  difference 
between    letting   it   continue  and  removing  it,  the  removal 
being  certain  to  be  urged  as  a  proof  of  the  animus  of  the 
legislature  being  that  holders    of  office  may,  with   a    clear 
conscience,  use  these  office  powers  against  the  Establishment. 
You  asked  me  when  we  spoke  of  this  whether  I  could  name 
one  ministerial  peer  who  would  vote  against  the  Bill.     The 
matter  came  that  very  night  into  discussion  at  Stoke  Park, 
Lord  Taunton  saying  that  he  had  declined  moving  it,  and 
Lord  Harrowby,  not  at  all  a  High  Churchman,  argued  warmly 
against  it.     To  test  my  opinion  I  asked  the  Bishop  of  Salis- 
bury what  he  thought  of  the  question.     I  enclose  (please  to 
return  it)  his  reply.     Now,  there  can  be  no  doubt,  I  think, 
that  there  ought  to  be  some  distinct  right  to  be  done  to 
warrant  a  Bishop  in  shocking  rudely  the  feelings  of  such  men 
as  these  by  seeming  to  them  needlessly  to  play  into  the  hands 
of  men  banded  for  the  eventual  overthrow  of  the  Establishment. 
The  difference  between  the  policy  of  retaining  this  declara- 
tion and  the  old  Eldon  policy  seems  to  me  to  be  this  :  The 
Dissenters  were  then  asking  for  equal  civil  rights  and  for  the 
removal  of  tests  injurious  to  their  consciences.      They  are 
now  professedly  seeking  not  for  freedom  for  themselves,  but 
the  abolition  of  the  Establishment  ;  wherever,  therefore,  they 
ask  for  what  tends   only  to  that,  we  are   bound  to   refuse. 
These  are  the  difficulties  ;  I  need  hardly  say  I  will  anxiously 
weigh  any  answer  to  them.     I  am  affectionately  yours, 

S.  OXON. 

The  Rizht  Hon.  W.  E.  Gladstone  to  the 
Bishop  of  Oxford. 

Cliveden,  Maidenhead,  March  2i,  1863. 

My  dear  Bishop  of  Oxford, — It  is  with  much  misgiving 
that  I  reply  to  your  letter,  as  I  must  do  it  in  great  haste, 
and  I  have  not  been  able  to  examine  the  precise  state  of  the 
law  in  the  matter  of  Mr.  Hadfield's  Bill. 


1S63.  MR.    GLADSTONE'S  ARGUMENTS.  8 1 

I  will,  however,  bejin  with  saying  that  I  think  the  Bishop 
of  Salisbury's  statement  is  not  to  the  point.  The  argument 
on  which  you  and  most  opponents  of  the  Bill  appear  to  rely 
is  this,  that  the  Dissenters  are  banded  together  to  destroy  the 
Church.  When  I  say,  in  answer  to  this,  the  Church  is  in  no 
danger  from  Dissenters,  my  meaning  is  not  that  she  may  be 
safely  delivered  over  into  their  hands,  but  that  her  members 
and  those  who  wish  her  well  have  ample  power  to  defend  her. 
While  I  sit  here  writing  to  you  I  am  in  no  danger  from 
thieves,  for  they  cannot  get  at  me.  This  arrangement 
admits,  as  you  will  see,  in  the  coarsest  form  the  utmost  ill- 
intention  that  can  be  imputed  to  Dissenters,  and  it  seems  to 
me  sound  in  itself.  I  am  ready  to  go  even  beyond  it — the 
Church  of  England  is  in  most  serious  danger  from  her  own 
members,  from  her  own  intestine  divisions.  The  presence  of 
Dissenters  in  Parliament  has  been  very  useful  to  her,  by  its 
tendency  particularly  to  repress  these  divisions  and  to  check 
their  development. 

You  do  not  diminish  these  real  dangers  by  resistance  to 
Hadfield's  Bill  and  similar  measures,  but  you  tend  rather  to 
increase  them  ;  making  common  cause  with  all  persons  who, 
from  the  most  mixed  motives,  uphold  the  Establishment 
rather  than  the  Church,  you  contract  an  alliance  with  them, 
and  all  alliances  are  maintained  on  the  principle  of  give  and 
take  among  the  allies.  You  strengthen  them  in  the  dispo- 
sition they  entertain,  consistently  on  their  principle,  to  depress 
the  Church  element  within  the  Church,  in  order  to  avoid 
repelling  those  who  are  willing  to  fight,  not  for  the  Church, 
but  for  the  Establishment.  Nor  is  it  thus  only  that  you 
produce  an  injurious  effect.  In  proportion  as  you  insist  upon 
retaining — I  must  say  upon  '  clutching  ' — every  temporal 
prerogative,  every  assertion,  in  whatever  form  of  rationality 
as  such,  you  enhance  the  right  and  the  disposition  of  the  mixed 
mass  of  the  community  to  say,  This  institution,  which  clings 
thus  tenaciously  to  all  legal  preferences,  and  exacts  a  moral 
tribute  from  out  of  the  very  mouth  of  Dissenters,  like  the  fish 
in  the  Gospel,  as  a  condition  of  their  holding  office,  must  at 
least  have  her  rough  places  made  smooth  and  her  mountains 
laid  low  within,  that  the  nation,  which  by  the  uttermost  of 
VOT,.  III.  G 


82  LIFE   OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.         chap.  hi. 

her  power  she  insists  on  possessing,  may  really  possess  her  in 
return. 

You  are  like  a  general  in  an  enemy's  country  with  a  front 
more  extended  than  he  has  force  to  maintain,  but  who  says, 
No,  I  will  not  draw  in  this  outlying  corps  and  that,  for  I 
cannot  content  my  enemy,  and  when  my  lines  are  contracted 
he  will  not  be  satisfied  but  will  still  look  out  for  an  oppor- 
tunity of  attacking  them. 

I  pass  to  another  point.  The  declaration  contributes 
what  I  may  call  a  point  of  sore  contact  with  Dissenters. 
Every  time  it  is  tendered  to  them  it  arouses  sectarian 
jealousies,  presents  the  Church  as  demanding  something  of 
them,  as  endeavouring  to  narrow  and  restrain  their  freedom 
of  action,  and  this  in  the  form  most  of  all  offensive,  namely, 
by  words  put  into  their  own  mouths.  It  is  very  wise  to  avoid 
fretting  these  sore  places,  and  to  let  them  heal.  If  you  ask 
me  whether  I  am  prepared  to  act  at  all  costs  on  this  principle, 
I  answer,  No,  no  more  than  I  am  resolved  never  to  blister 
my  foot  in  a  walk.  It  must  depend  on  the  object  and 
necessity  of  the  walk  whether  I  ought  to  do  it  or  not.  I  am 
not  ready,  for  instance,  to  take  away  the  Church-rate  in  our 
rural  parishes,  where  Dissenters  are  few  and  other  resources 
are  small  ;  but  I  do  not  doubt  but  that  the  abolition  of  the 
Church  cess  in  Ireland,  however  disadvantageous  in  some 
points  of  view,  has,  on  the  whole,  contributed  very  largely  to 
the  maintenance  of  the  Established  Church  in  that  country ; 
and  further,  what  is  more  to  the  purpose,  that  the  abolition 
or  disuse  of  the  Church-rate  in  many  parishes  in  England 
has  been  for  the  relative  advantage  of  the  Church.  It  has 
removed  an  occasion  of  contact  at  a  point  which  was  sore 
and  inflamed.  Here  we  are  called  on  to  remove  another, 
but  at  little  or  no  cost  at  all. 

The  declaration  constitutes  an  exceptional  law  and  an 
exceptional  security — so,  indeed,  is  the  Oath  of  Allegiance  for 
the  Crown.  But  the  Crown  is  the  symbol  of  the  law,  and  to 
the  Crown  and  its  laws  all  are  required  to  submit;  these  may 
belong  or  not  belong  to  the  Church,  as  it  may  chance  to 
please  them.  I  do  not  think  the  original  framers  of  this 
declaration  are   to  be   blamed,  but  yet  it  may  be  doubted 


1863-         THE   CHURCH  AS  AN  ESTABLISHMENT.  83 

whether  they  judged  wisely,  even  then,  in  thinking  that  a 
Church  wanting  strength  (and  if  it  did  not  want  strength,  why 
give  the  offence  ?)  could  possibly  obtain  it  by  presenting 
herself  before  every  entrant  into  office  with  a  demand 
naturally  irritating  to  a  jealous  mind. 

The  policy  of  this  Church  as  an  Establishment  to  my 
mind  is  plain.  She  should  rest  on  her  possessions  and  her 
powers,  parting  with  none  of  them  except  for  equivalents  in 
another  currency  or  upon  full  consideration  of  pros  and 
cons ;  but,  outside  of  these,  she  should  avoid  all  points  of 
sore  contact  with  Dissenters,  Each  one  of  them  is  a  point 
at  which  she,  as  a  dead  mass,  rubs  upon  the  living  flesh,  and 
stirs  the  hostility  of  its  owner.  It  is  no  less  due  to  her  own 
interests  to  share  them  than  it  is  to  justice,  as  regards  the 
Dissenter,  to  surrender  these  points,  if  surrender  that  is  to 
be  called  which  is  so  unmixedly  to  her  advantage.  I  have 
been  led  into  a  wide  field,  and  I  am  not  able  to  cover  it. 
There  are  many  topics  untouched.  I  do  not  feel  my  vote 
for  Hadfield's  Bill  to  be  a  concession  to  Dissenters  at  the 
expense  of  the  Church  ;  I  feel  it  to  be  an  act  which  would 
do  good,  all  things  considered,  to  the  Church,  as  well  as 
soothe  the  Dissenter.  You  say  he  will  still  attack.  I  reply, 
some  will,  but  some  will  not ;  acts  like  these  weaken  the 
invading  force.  I  have  not  dwelt  on  the  practical  rcdiictio 
ad  absiirduin  by  the  Act  of  Indemnity.  I  have  not  dwelt  on 
the  mischief  inherent  in  self-interpreted  declarations,  where 
the  meaning  is  (as,  I  think,  must  be  admitted)  anythino-  but 
plain  and  obvious.  As  to  carrying  the  insignia  to  worship 
(if  not  otherwise  prohibited  by  law)  it  is  a  question  of  a  mere 
handful  of  persons  on  a  handful  of  occasions.  I  can  join  in 
disapproving  it ;  I  believe  the  public  feeling  would  repress 
it ;  but  it  is  in  no  case  a  matter  such  as  to  warrant  the  far- 
fetched resort  of  maintaining  an  invidious  and  irritatino-  law 
of  most  doubtful  application  to  it  and  if  operative,  operative 
only  on  the  best.  For  Churchmen  the  declaration  is  little  more 
than  zero.  For  Dissenters  I  must  say  I  think  it  most  per- 
plexing. I,  the  Baptist  mayor  of  Muggletown,  discharge  my 
office  with  much  dignity  and  state  and  attract  the  gaze  of 
the  gaping  multitude ;  the  Baptist  Missionary  Society  holds 

G2 


84  LIFE  OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.        chap.  hi. 

a  meeting,  and  asks  me  to  preside  ;  my  position  and  credit 
as  mayor  will  be  of  great  use,  will  draw  50/.  instead  of  20/., 
and  this  is  urged  in  the  letter  which  solicits  me.  Am  I  to 
go }  May  I  attend  a  meeting  to  promote  the  abolition  of 
Church-rates  .''  to  ask  for  a  charter  to  the  London  University 
(before  it  had  one)  .^  The  whole  affair  is  full  of  real  conscience- 
traps,  and  men  who  fall  into  such  traps  deeply  resent  it 
against  men  who  set  them. 

If  you  are  to  oppose  this  Bill,  I  am  not  sorry  that  you 
should  do  it  in  company  with  so  good  a  man  as  Lord 
Harrowby  ;  but  are  you  sure  that  he  will  not  himself  in  his 
own  person,  and  soon,  exemplify  the  justice  of  the  argument 
in  the  former  part  of  this  letter  } 

Lastly,  I  cannot  admit  the  difference  between  this  policy 
and  the  policy  of  Eldon  and  Inglis,  otherwise  than  as  the 
difference  between  1829  and  1863.  Relatively  (and  this  is  the 
true  test)  it  is  the  same,  just  as,  if  you  were  to  travel  back- 
wards, we  should  associate  the  two  whom  I  have  named  with 
other  worthies  in  whose  company  they  would  be  quite  as 
much  astonished  to  find  themselves  as  you  can  be  at  hearing 
it  imputed  to  you  that  you  are  likely  to  be  morally  and 
historically  in  theirs. 

I  have  written  long,  but  I  am  really  very  much  in  earnest. 
Believe  mc  affectionately  yours,  ^^,  ^  GLADSTONE. 

The  Bishop  of  Oxford  to  the  Right  Hon. 
IV.  E.  Gladstone. 

Bisham  Abbey,  r^Iarch  29,  1863. 
My  dear  Gladstone, — I  feel  so  forcibly  the  weight  of 
your  argument  that  we  should  not  obtrude  needlessly  our 
objections  on  the  sore  places  of  Dissenters  that,  looking  at 
the  effect  of  the  Indemnity  Act  in  depriving  the  affirmation 
of  all  real  practical  weight,  I  shall  be  ready  not  to  oppose  the 
Bill  if  I  find  it  possible  to  bring  the  Church  party  and 
especially  the  Bishops  to  act  together  in  that  sense.  I  fear 
that  this  will  not  be  easy — Lord  Palmerston's  wicked  appoint- 
ments meet  us  here  at  every  turn  - — to  yield  everything  to  a 

-  Writing  to  Mi".  Gordon,  February  22,  the  Bishop  says  :  '  Pahnerston  nomi- 
nated Baring  for  Canterbury  and  Waldegrave  for  York.' 


1863.  THE  PRINCE   OF  WALES'S  MARRIAGE.  85 

Ministry  which  every  sound  Churchman  feels  insults  the 
Church  almost  every  time  it  has  to  recommend  to  the  Crown 
for  a  Bishopric  is  exceedingly  hard. 

So  far  as  I  see  at  present,  I  do  not  think  it  would  be 
right  for  me  to  support  this  Bill  against  a  general  Church 
opposition  ;  but  I  will  try  to  lead  my  brethren  to  take  to- 
gether the  line  that,  as  there  is  in  this  no  real  security  to  the 
Establishment,  we  are  willing,  as  Dissenters  feel  it  a  burden 
on  their  consciences,  to  remove  it.  I  cannot  admit  that  we  can 
take  the  general  ground  that  our  strength  is  in  the  affection 
of  the  people,  not  in  the  legal  defences  of  an  Establishment, 
for  that  seems  to  me  to  sacrifice  our  position.  We  might,  on 
that  showing,  be  the  strongest  sect,  but  I  do  not  see  how  we 
could  claim  to  be  the  national  Church.  I  am  ever  very 
affectionately  yours,  g  OxoN 

This  Bill  did  not  become  law  until  1865.  It  is 
evident,  from  the  Bishop's  diary  for  that  year,  that  Mr. 
Gladstone's  warm  advocacy  of  the  measure  increased 
rather  than  decreased  during  the  interval.  The  Bishop 
did  not  vote  against  the  Bill,  for  the  reason  recorded  in 
the  diary,  June  26  (1865)  :  '  House  of  Lords  on  Oaths, 
paired  to  dine  with  Bishop  of  Gloucester,  and  back  one 
minute  too  late — vexed  thereat.' 

On  March  7  the  Bishop  went  to  Windsor  Castle 
for  the  Prince  of  Wales's  marriage,  which  took  place  on 
the  loth.  The  wedding,  taking  place  as  it  did  during 
the  season  of  Lent,  naturally  led  High  Churchmen  to 
ask  themselves  whether  or  not  they  ought  to  sanction 
by  their  presence  the  festivities  that  were  universal 
on  the  occasion.  Here  is  an  extract  from  a  letter 
to  the  Bishop  of  Salisbury  from  the  Bishop,  written  in 
January. 

I  am  very  sorry  for  the  time  of  the  marriage,  but  every- 
thing possible  has  been  done  to  get  it  changed,  and  in  vain. 
1   tJiink  the   best  thing  now  possible  would  be  for  the  Arch- 


86  LIFE  OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.       [chap.  hi. 

bishop  to  write  a  letter,  saying  that,  for  high  State  reasons, 
that  time  having  been  thought  necessary,  he,  as  Archbishop, 
thinks  it  his  duty  to  express  that  he,  so  far  as  it  is  lawful  for 
him  to  do  so,  dispenses  for  that  day  with  the  Church's 
ordinary  rule,  in  order  that  all  may,  without  scruple,  loyally 
devote  it  to  rejoicing.  This  would  turn  the  breach  into  a 
gain. 

The  Archbishop  did  not  officially  promulgate  such 
a  letter  as  the  Bishop  wished.  The  Bishop,  therefore, 
in  order  to  set  at  rest  the  minds  of  the  clergy  in  his 
own  Diocese,  issued  a  letter  to  each  of  his  Arch- 
deacons : — 

The  Bishop  of  Oxfo7^d  to  the  Archdeacon  of . 

Cuddesdon,  jNIarch  4,  1863. 

My  dear  Archdeacon, — Having  been  applied  to  by  some 
of  our  brethren  of  the  Clergy  for  advice  as  to  their  conduct 
on  the  day  of  the  marriage  of  the  Prince  of  Wales,  I  desire  to 
convey  to  you  my  opinion  that  any  rejoicing,  to  be  real,  must 
be  manifested  on  the  day  of  the  wedding.  The  Lenten  Fast 
was  originally  an  appointment  of  the  Church,  with  which  the 
Archbishop  of  Canterbury  had,  and  still  has  by  law,  a  right 
to  dispense  ;  and  from  the  communications  1  have  received 
from  his  Grace,  I  consider  that  he  has  dispensed  with  it  for 
the  auspicious  day  in  question.  I  would,  therefore,  advise  all, 
under  present  circumstances,  heartily  and  without  misgiving, 
to  take  part  in  the  loyal  rejoicings  which  befit  this  great 
occasion.     I  remain,  my  dear  Archdeacon,  yours  very  truly, 

S.   OXON. 

This  official  letter  did  not  set  at  rest  the  minds  of 
all  the  clergy,  and  the  Bishop  accordingly  had  some- 
times to  explain  more  fully  to  private  correspondents 
what  his  opinion  was  as  to  the  Archiepiscopal  power 
of  dispensation  : — 


1863.  POWER   OF  DISPENSATION.  8/ 

The  Bishop  of  Oxford  to  the  Rev. . 


Stoke  Park,  Slough,  March  10,  1863. 

My   dear 1  am  veiy  sorry  that  you   take  the  view 

you  express  in  your  letter.  Sorry  every  way  :  first,  because 
it  grieves  me  to  differ  from  you  ;  and  next,  because  I  am 
convinced  that  your  view  lies  at  the  root  of  our  neglect  of 
holy  seasons  and  that  there  can  be  no  amendment  whilst  it 
is  maintained. 

I.  You  question  the  Archbishop's /t'^f^r  to  dispense.  I 
reply  it  was  a  power  always  inherent  in  patriarchs — exercised 
down  to  the  Reformation  amongst  us  by  the  Pope,  trans- 
ferred by  the  Statute  of  Henry  VIII.  to  the  Archbishop  of 
Canterbury  and  constantly  exercised  by  him.  I  have  myself 
in  my  muniment  box  at  Lavington  such  a  dispensation  to 
one  of  my  predecessors  in  that  property,  granted  by  Arch- 
bishop Laud.  I  contend  therefore  that  by  Church  usage, 
statute  law  and  custom  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  Jias 
this  power.  But  (2),  I  maintain  that  it  is  impossible  to 
maintain  such  ecclesiastical  commands  unless  the  power  of 
dispensation  is  maintained.  God's  law  cannot  under  circum- 
stances of  any  urgency  be  set  aside  ;  therefore,  without  any 
dispensing  power,  it  may  be  simply  enforced.  The  rules  of 
the  Church  are  for  edification  ;  they  are  binding  on  us,  not 
of  moral  necessity,  but  because  they  are  commanded.  There 
inust  therefore  be  times  when  they  cannot  be  enforced — e.g. 
fasting  must  be  suspended  for  health.  Now  if  the  Church 
drops  her  dispensing  power  the  result  is  that  everyone  dis- 
penses for  himself  and  universal  anarchy  is  the  consequence. 
This  is  the  state  we  have  reached,  nor  can  we  ever  escape 
from  it  but  by  the  law  being  enforced  by  the  open  assump- 
tion by  authority  of  the  duty  and  power  of  dispensing  with  it 
on  fit  occasions.  Then  the  undispensed  are  bound,  because 
the  dispensed  are  released.  I  hardly  know  anything  which, 
in  my  judgment,  could  so  much  have  restored  the  observance 
of  Lent  as  a  bold  and  open  dispensation  of  these  days  uttered 
by  the  Archbishop  and  declared  by  the  clergy.  What  I  did 
was  the  nearest  approach  to  this  I  could  obtain.     I  am  most 

^'■"^>^  y°"^-^'  S.  OXON. 


88  LIFE   OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.         chap.  hi. 

The  Bishop's  diary  gives  some  particulars  of  his 
visit  to  Windsor  : — 

Maj'ch  8. — (Sunday.)  Up  in  good  tinne  ;  breakfast,  9.30. 
Then  chapel  at  10.  I  on  Round  Tower  after,  not  clear. 
Preached,  and  got  on  as  to  voice,^  &c.,  D.G.  :  all  seemed  ver}' 
attentive  and  impressed  and  pleased.  Saw  the  Queen  in  the 
afternoon  and  had  much  talk  with  her  ;  always  the  Prince — 
expecting  him  in  old  places.  Large  dinner ;  after,  presented 
to  the  Princess  Alexandra  ;  she  very  pleasing — such  a  coun- 
tenance, "mien,  demeanour  and  conversation  ! 

March  9. — Morning,  chapel.  Rode  to  Ascot  ;  luncheon 
in  the  Oak  Room  ;  saw  the  presents  ;  met  the  Archbishop,  and 
about  with  him.  Then  to  Stoke  Park.  Lords  Granville,  Har- 
rowby.  Lord  and  Lady  Carmarthen,  C.  Howard,  Cavendish 
girls,  &c.  ;  all  very  pleasant,  as  always,  here. 

March  10. — Up  early.  After  breakfast,  to  Windsor 
Castle ;  the  wedding  ;  able  a  little  to  pray  for  them  ;  all 
most  pleasant  and  successful.     Home  to  Stoke  Park. 

The  Bishop  further  describes  the  wedding- : — 
The  Bishop  of  Oxford  to  Sir  Charles  Anderson. 

Englefield  House,  Reading,  March  21,  1863. 

My  dearest  Anderson, — The  wedding  was  certainly  the 
most  moving  sight  I  ever  saw.  The  Queen  above  looking 
down  added  such  a  wonderful  chord  of  deep  feeling  to  all  the 
lighter  notes  of  joy  fulness  and  show.  Everyone  behaved 
quite  at  their  best.  The  Princess  of  Wales  calm,  feeling, 
self-possessed.  The  Prince  with  more  depth  of  manner  than 
ever  before.  Princess  Mary's  entrance  was  grand.  The 
little  Prince  William  of  Prussia,  between  his  two  little  uncles 
to  keep  him  quiet,  both  of  whom  he — the  Crown  Princess 
told  me — bit  on  the  bare  Highland  legs  whenever  they 
touched  him  to  keep  him  quiet.  I  had  a  nice  long  talk 
with  the  Queen.  I  was  charmed  with  the  Prince  of  Prussia, 
and  the  warmth  of  his  expressions  as  to  wife.     '  Bishop,'  he 

'  The  Bishop  had  been  for  some  time  very  ill,  and  was  only  just  recovered  ; 
he  had  only  taken  one  Confirmation,  that  at  Shrivenhani  on  March  7,  for  some 
days. 


1863.  INFLUENCE   ON  UNDERGRADUATES.  89 

said,  '  with  me  it  has  been  one  long  honeymoon.'  I  have 
been  laid  up  here  two  days  with  sore  throat,  but  hope  to  get 
to  work  to-morrow.     My  love  to  all.     Your  very  affectionate 

S.  OXON. 

An  article  in  *  The  Times,'  in  the  beginning  of 
Ma}',  criticised  the  Bishop's  University  Sermons  just 
published.  The  Reviewer  sketched  the  possible 
experience  of  a  typical  undergraduate  placed  in  the 
way  of  doubts.  This  article  evoked  a  reply  *  from  an 
Oxford  undergraduate  who,  whether  he  was  typical  or 
not,  represented  the  feelings  of  a  considerable  number 
of  the  underofraduates.  It  is  valuable  because  it  came 
from  one  of  those  to  whom  these  very  sermons  were 
addressed  and  who  described  himself  as  in  sympathy 
with  '  free  inquiry  ; '  it  shows  how  great  was  the  Bishop's 
influence  over  these  young  men.  The  letter  is  too 
long  to  quote  fully  but  the  conclusion  should  be  given. 
After  saying  that  he  and  others  who  went  to  hear  the 
sermon  had  no  personal  knowledge  of  the  Bishop  and 
expected  to  hear  him  steer  between  conflicting  opinions,^ 
the  writer  says  : — 

Let  it  suffice  to  say  it  was  by  the  Bishop  of  Oxford  that 
we  were  led  to  feel  that  reverence  must  go  hand  in  hand  with 
knowledge,  in  order  that  the  true  harmony  may  exist  between 
mind  and  soul,  that  a  man's  reason  and  judgment  alone  are 
a  poor  support  and  comfort  and  that  the  kingdom  of  God 
must  be  received  in  the  spirit  of  a  little  child. 

May  14. — (Ascension  Day.)  Morning,  letters.  Bishop  of 
Montreal  ;  with  him  to  Chapel  Ro}'al.  A  good  sermon  from 
Bishop  of  London,  and  a  nice  Communion  :  God  gave  me 
power  to  feel.  Wrote  after.  Little  ride  and  with  Bishop  of 
London  to  Lambeth.  Large  gathering.  I  got  the  Bishops 
of  London  and   Winchester  to  propose  and  second  restoring 

^  The  Times,  May  5,  1S63. 

*  This  particular  sermon  was  on  Essays  and  Krju'ws. 


90  LIFE  OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.         chap.  hi. 

the  Holy  Thursday  Communion.''  All  the  happier  for  not 
appearing.     Bishop  of  Winchester  kind. 

May  21, — Convocation  breakfast.  Then  Ecclesiastical 
Commission.  At  sermon  for  Oxford.  Visited  Lord  Lynd- 
hurst — bright,  cheerful,  busy ;  specially  occupied  about  re- 
ligious reading ;  clear  in  faith  ;  Colenso's  doubts  no  shake 
to  him. 

June  i6.— (Cuddesdon).  Meant  to  ride  with  Hubbard  to 
the  Culham  station  for  address,  but  rain  hindered.  Drove  on  to 
Oxford,  In  the  tent  at  Christ  Church.  Then  luncheon — 
Stanley's.  Then  theatre  for  Prince's  degree.  Lord  Derby's 
wonderful  Latin  speech.  Then  wrote,  and  dinner  at  Christ 
Church  ;  no  speeches,  to  my  great  relief,  who  had  to  speak. 
Out  to  Cuddesdon. 

Jime  17. — In  early  to  Oxford.  Theatre.  Luncheon  at 
All  Souls.  Then  wrote  many  letters.  The  boats — a  beauti- 
ful scene.  Exeter  dinner.  Home  at  night  with  Archbishop 
of  Armagh  and  Walpole.  The  Archbishop's  account  of  Irish- 
man who  said,  '  I  don't  know  how  to  account  for  the  Roman 
Catholics  being  so  much  more  numerous  than  the  Protestants, 
w  hen  we  are  told  that  they  went  two  and  two  into  the  ark,' 

June  24. — With  Middleton  to  Grantham.  Bishop,  Dean, 
Archdeacon  and  Vicar  on  platform.  To  working-sheds,  and 
addressed  the  men  on  not  being  moulded  by  circumstances. 
To  Deanery,  and  letters. 

Jwic  29. — (Sarsden.)  Early.  After  breakfast  rode  with 
Barter  and  Luccock  to  Long  Compton  ;  great  gathering  of 
clergy  and  others — preached  on  Rev.  xviii.  i.  Cordial  wel- 
come. With  Claughton  and  Wheelers  to  Worcester  and 
Hereford.  Kindly  received  at  Palace.  Visited  Cathedral 
after  dinner. 

June  30. — (Hereford.)  Up  early.  Communion  at  8  ; 
fairly  attended,  but  all  muddled  and  wrong  in  the  celebration. 
Old  Huntingford  said  by  Ousely  to  be  the  only  canon  know- 
ing anything  of  ritual,  and  he  not  taking  part.  Bishop 
(Hampden)  preached  a  dull  but  thoroughly  orthodox  sermon. 
Congregation  grand  ;  organ  too  loud,  I  preached  evening  ; 
great  congregation,  and  much  interested.      Dined  at  Dean's, 

*  At  the  Bishops'  annual  meeting  on  this  day. 


1863.  THE  HOUSE   OF  COMMONS.  9 1 

The  Bishop  wrote  a  long  letter  to  Mr,  Gordon  in 
June.  He  was  at  the  time  Governor  of  New  Bruns- 
wick. After  giving  him  the  home  news,  the  Bishop 
says  : — 

I  devoured  Kinglake's  book  when  it  came  out.  It  has 
certainly  the  merit  of  a  very  picturesque  style — a  sort  of 
modified  Carlyle  panorama  painting.  But  I  do  not  think  it 
can  claim  to  be  history,  or  to  liv^e  as  such.  The  account  of 
the  Paris  emeiite  and  all  the  sketch  of  Louis  Napoleon,  with 
the  imputations  of  personal  cowardice,  &c.,  are  really  only  the 
gathered  calumnies  with  which  we  have  been  familiar  in  the 
journals  of  Senior.  The  Emperor's  remark  upon  it  when  he 
read  it  is  the  best  thing  I  have  heard  of  him.  It  was  simply, 
'  C'est  ignoble.'  I  think  with  }'ou  that  the  idea  of  the  war 
coming  from  him  and  Palmerston  is  very  true.  That  wretched 
Pam  seems  to  me  to  get  worse  and  worse.  There  is  not  a 
particle  of  veracity  or  noble  feeling  that  I  have  ever  been 
able  to  trace  in  him.  He  manages  the  House  of  Commons 
by  debauching  it,  making  all  parties  laugh  at  one  another — 
the  Tories  at  the  Liberals  by  his  defeating  all  Liberal 
measures,  the  Liberals  at  the  Tories  by  their  consciousness 
of  getting  everything  that  is  to  be  got  in  Church  and  State, 
and  all  at  one  another  by  substituting  low  ribaldry  for  argu- 
ment, bad  jokes  for  principle  and  an  openly  avowed  vain- 
glorious imbecile  vanity  as  a  panoply  to  guard  himself  from 
the  attacks  of  all  thoughtful  men.  I  think  if  his  life  lasts 
long  it  must  cost  us  the  slight  remains  of  constitutional 
government  which  exist  amongst  us. 

July  II. — Up  very  early.  Prepared  sermon  on  'What  is 
truth  "i '  Many  letters  with  Archdeacon  and  Fosbery.  Then 
London  ;  letters,  &c.  &c.  &c.  Then  dined — Sir  R.  Peel,  Lord 
Derby,  &c.  ;  Sir  R.  Peel  straightforward,  open,  curious  talk. 
Lord  Carlisle  bent  on  making  Fitz-Gerald  primate.  What  I 
had  said  to  Lady  Emily  made  Beresford  ;  but  upset  unless 
Sir  R.  had  come  back  on  private  business  from  Switzerland. 
And  then  about  making  Trench  next  Archbishop  of  Dublin. 

July  16. — Wellington  College.  Up  early  and  finished  ser- 
mon.   Early  Communion  ;  then  the  governors  arrived.    Service 


92  LIFE   OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.         chap.  in. 

and  preached,  and  walked,  talking  with  clergy  till  tired  out.  To 
F"ir  Grove — all  most  hearty.  Archdeacon  Randall,  Kingsleys, 
and  self — Kingsley  very  good  company :  spoke  strongly  as 
sound  believer. 

The  Bishop  took  his  autumn  holiday  this  year  in 
Aueust,  eoine  to  Switzerland.  Of  the  many  short  but 
descriptive  entries  in  his  diary  during  this  trip  one  will 
suffice  : — 

August  22, —  Off,  after  breakfast,  with  E.  and  F.  &c.,  to 
Lauterbrunn,  and  up  to  Miirren  ;  as  we  reached  the  top,  the 
mist  which  had  veiled  the  Jungfrau  suddenly  opened  and  we 
saw  high  in  heaven  the  Silberhorn,  and  then  the  top.  Just 
such  a  sight  of  glory  as  made  my  blessed  wife  in  1828 
seize  my  hand  and  say,  '  Can  that  be  earth  ? '  A  very 
happy  day  on  the  heights.  Walked  down  to  Interlaken  to 
supper. 

In  September  the  Bishop  returned  to  England 
and  on  the  3rd  of  that  month  he  preached  at  Bristol, 
attended  and  spoke  at  meetings  there,  &c.  In  Oc- 
tober he  was  in  the  north  at  York,  preaching  and 
holding  meetings  for  the  S.P.G.  and  on  his  way  back 
paid  a  visit  to  the  Speaker  at  Ossington  where  a  large 
party  was  assembled. 

October  17. — Rode  with  Speaker  round  the  Forest. 
Thoresby  and  Clumber  ;  quite  delightful  ;  in  the  evening  a 
good  deal  of  political  talk  with  Cardwell  ;  he  anticipating  the 
highest  for  Gladstone.  He  said  :  '  The  Duke  of  Wellington 
was  always  jealous  of  Peel.  I  now  anticipate  that  Gladstone 
will  be  Premier.  Neither  party  has  any  leader.  I  hope  that 
Gladstone  may  get  support  from  the  Conservatives  who  now 
support  Palmerston.     Palmerston  specially  well  and  young.' 

A  few  days  after,  the  Bishop  met  Mr.  Gladstone 
and  he  records  :  '  Lonof  talk  with  Gladstone  as  to 
Premiership,  he  for  acting  under  John  Russell ! ! ! ' 


1863.  CJ^AM.  93 

On  September  23,  the  Bishop  made  the  following 
speech  at  the  distribution  of  diplomas  and  honorary 
certificates  to  successful  candidates  of  Oxford  local 
examinations,  at  Brighton  :  — 

Such  examinations  as  these  are  a  sort  of  great  anti- 
cramming  plan.  Many  of  you,  my  young  friends,  will  at 
once  think  of  the  word  that  rhymes  with  cram  ;  every  boy 
who  obtains  success  by  such  a  means  is  nothing  more  than  a 
sham.  Cramming  is  putting  into  the  mind  what  it  cannot 
digest,  making  it  preternaturally  fat,  poisoning  it  or  killing  it 
in  some  other  way.  I  never  knew  good  come  of  it  but  I  have 
seen  many  minds  fatally  injured  by  it.  That  which  you  can 
take  into  your  minds  and  make  part  of  yourselves  will  be  so 
much  the  better  for  you  ;  but  that  which  you  only  take  in  to 
reproduce  whole  and  undigested  will  neither  do  you  nor  any- 
one else  the  least  good.  The  real  good  of  these  examinations 
is  the  doing  away  with  cramming,  like  taking  a  crammed 
fowl's  crop  and  giving  it  a  good  squeeze,  which  detects  the 
crammer,  and  relieves  the  fowl.  They  may  have  had  a  good 
squeeze  at  the  time  but  they  will  feel  a  good  deal  better 
afterwards  and  it  will  be  a  great  lesson  to  crammers,  who 
will  find  all  their  cramming  materials  exposed  and  of  no 
avail. 

In  November  the  Bishop  delivered  his  triennial 
Charge  at  Aylesbury  and  Reading.  Previous  to  its 
delivery  he  had  sent  a  list  of  questions  to  all  the  in- 
cumbents in  the  diocese,  one  of  which  questions  related 
to  the  hindrances  they  experienced  in  their  parish  work. 
The  Charge,  after  recapitulating  the  work  of  the  dio- 
cese, the  progress  made  and  the  losses  sustained  during 
the  last  three  years,  touched  on  the  hindrances  which 
had  been  alleged  in  the  answers  sent  by  the  Clergy, 
which  fell  under  three  heads.  Dissent,  bad  cottages, 
and  beershops.  On  these  hindrances  the  Bishop  ad- 
vised his  clergy.     The   Bishop  himself  did  not  state 


94  LIFE  OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.         chap.  ill. 

that  Dissent  was  a  hindrance  to  the  work  of  the  Church, 
nor  did  he,  as  some  people  imagined,  class  Dissenters 
and  beershops  together  as  hindrances.'  He  advised 
his  clergy  as  to  the  way  in  which  they  should  deal  with 
what  they  in  these  answers  had  stated  to  him  were 
hindrances  to  their  work.  His  own  words  on  the 
subject  are  : — 

We  need  not  be  contentious.  God  forbid  that  we  should 
be  uncharitable  in  our  mode  of  stating  the  truth  according  to 
the  principles  of  our  Church,  but  the  truth  we  must  state. 
We  have  no  right  to  withhold  it  from  adults  or  to  send  out 
children  from  our  schools  unfurnished  with  sound  principles 
on  this  any  more  than  on  other  religious  subjects.  These 
children  are  quite  sure  to  meet  with  contrary  pretensions  and 
how  can  we  expect  them  to  be  discriminating  and  stead- 
fast unless  we  have  taught  them  on  these  as  well  as  on 
other  matters  the  whole  truth  of  God.  Depend  upon  it,  a 
thoroughly  distinctive  teaching  of  our  doctrines,  free  from  all 
attack  on  others,  is  to  be  here  our  people's  safeguard. 

Upon  another  hindrance  to  the  ministry,  namely, 
the  great  want  of  lay  co-operation,  the  Bishop  gives 

'  The  following  is  a  letter  from  the  Bishop  to  a  Suffolk  clergyman,  who  had 
heard  that  the  Bishop  in  this  Charge  had  given  offence  to  the  Nonconformists  by 
placing  their  meeting-houses  in  the  same  category  with  beershops.  The  letter 
was  written  a  year  later  : — 

The  Bishop  of  Oxford  to  the  Rev.  . 

October  29,  1864. 
My  dear  Sir, — I  am  much  obliged  by  your  very  kind  note.  No  misrepre- 
sentation could  be  more  complete,  as  the  Reading  Dissenters  allowed,  than  that 
referred  to.  In  my  Charge  I  said  that  in  answer  to  the  question,  '  What  have 
been  the  hindrances  to  your  ministry  ?  '  many  of  the  clergy  had  returned  '  beer- 
shops,' '  insufficient  cottages,'  and  a  hindrance  of  a  widely  different  nature,  '  the 
interruption  of  their  efforts  by  the  presence  of  Dissent.'  It  would  be  wholly 
alien  to  my  nature  to  insult  conscientious  men  who  differed  from  me.     I  am  very 

^■■^^y  y^"-"^'  s.  oxoN. 

You  may  like  to  know  that  the  great  Dissenting  light,  Newman  Hall,  wrote  to 
me  that  there  was  nothing  in  my  Charge  which  lacked  courtesy  to  the  Noncon- 
formists. 


tS63.  advice  on  PREACHING.  95 

this  advice  :  '  There  Is  no  doubt,  my  Reverend  brethren, 
that  in  too  many  of  our  parishes  we  do  stand  far  too 
much  alone  In  our  work  and  that  what  above  all  out- 
ward aid  we  need  is  the  enlisting  more  of  the  resident 
laity  as  our  advisers  and  active  assistants.'  The  Charge 
then  dealt  at  great  length  and  exhaustively  with  the 
matters  which  were  then  prominently  before  Church- 
men, the  development  of  the  Pantheistic  theory  and  the 
Inspiration  of  the  Bible.  The  Charge  concluded  with 
advice  on  preaching,  the  value  of  which  may  in  some 
degree  be  inferred  from  the  following  epitome.  The 
Bishop  said  :  '  I  would  offer  suggestions  to  my  younger 
brethren  in  the  ministry.  Settle  thoroughly  In  your 
minds  the  greatness  of  what  you  have  to  do.  Never 
mount  the  pulpit  without  having  your  whole  spirit  awed 
by  this  thought — you  are  to  speak  for  God  to  men.  The 
preparation  for  the  work  of  preaching  must  be  habitual 
and  immediate.  Habitual,  that  the  mind  may  be  full 
of  the  subject,  without  which  we  soon  degenerate  into 
narrow,  technical  and  frigid  statements  of  the  noblest 
truths,  and  also  that  accuracy  may  be  obtained.  Loose, 
inaccurate  declarations  of  God's  truth  make  preachers 
of  the  Word  unawares  the  slayers  of  souls.  Immediate 
preparation.  Prayer.  Patient  labour  to  secure  for  our 
discourses  depth,  solidity,  and  order.  It  is  mainly 
Idleness  which  ruins  sermons,  which  makes  them  vao"ue, 
confused,  powerless  and  dull.  Remember  the  some- 
what caustic  words  :  "  The  sermon  which  has  cost 
little  is  worth  just  what  it  cost."  Never  preach 
habitually  the  sermons  of  others,  whether  taken  In 
mass  or  in  fragments,  mechanically  re-arranged  into 
a  composite  whole.  Nothing  short  of  incapacity  can 
excuse  this  as  an  habitual  practice,  and  then  its  use 
and  its  cause  should  be  avowed  with  an  humble  shame- 
facedness  which  will  preach  for  tlic  unfurnished  man. 


96  LIFE  OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.        chap.  hi. 

The  practice  of  reading  some  full  discourses  of  others 
on  the  subject  on  which  you  are  about  to  preach  is 
widely  different,  and  is  a  most  useful  course. 

'  To  secure  thought  and  preparation  begin,  when- 
ever it  is  possible,  the  next  Sunday's  sermon  at  least 
-en  the  preceding  Monday.  Choose  the  subject 
according  to  your  people's  need  and  your  power.  Let 
it  be  as  much  as  possible  resolvable  into  a  single 
proposition.  Having  chosen  the  subject,  meditate  upon 
it  as  deeply  as  you  can.  Consider,  first,  how  to  state 
correctly  the  theological  formula  which  it  involves  ; 
then  how  to  arrange  its  parts  so  as  to  convince  the 
hearer's  understanding.  Think,  next,  how  you  can 
move  his  affections,  and  so  win  his  will  to  accept  it. 
See  into  what  practical  conclusions  of  holy  living  you 
can  sum  it  up.  Having  thus  the  whole  before  you, 
you  may  proceed  to  its  actual  composition.  And  in 
doing  this,  if  any  thoughts  strike  you  with  peculiar 
power,  secure  them  at  once.  Do  not  wait  till,  having 
written  or  composed  all  the  rest,  }'ou  come  in  order  to 
them  :  such  burning  thoughts  burn  out.  Fix  them 
w^hilst  you  can.  I  would  say  never,  if  you  can  help  it, 
compose  except  with  a  fervent  spirit ;  whatever  is 
languidly  composed  is  lifelessly  received.  Rather  stop 
and  try  whether  reading,  meditation  and  prayer  will 
not  quicken  the  spirit,  than  drive  on  heavily  when  the 
chariot  wheels  are  taken  off.  So  the  mighty  masters 
of  our  art  have  done.  Bossuet  never  set  himself  to 
compose  his  great  sermons  without  first  reading 
chapters  of  Isaiah  and  portions  of  Gregory  Na- 
zianzen,  to  kindle  his  own  spirit.  In  some  such  way 
set  yourself  to  compose  and,  until  you  have  preached 
for  many  years  I  would  say,  to  write,  at  least  one 
sermon  weekly.  Study  with  especial  care  all  statements 
of  doctrine ;  to  be  clear,  particular  and  accurate.     Do 


1863.  WRITTEN  SERMONS   THE  BEST.  97 

not  labour  too  much  to  g'ive  too  great  ornament  or 
polish  to  your  sermons.  They  often  lose  their  strength 
in  such  refining  processes.  Having  written  them,  if 
you  7nust  deliver  them  with  the  manuscript  before  you, 
strive  to  do  it  as  little  as  if  you  were  reading  and  as 
much  as  if  you  were  speaking  them  as  possible.  Do 
not  be  the  slave  of  your  manuscript  but  make  it  your 
servant.  If  you  see  that  a  word  is  not  understood, 
vary  it ;  that  an  appeal  is  reaching  some  heart,  press 
it  home.  If  you  have  the  gift,  after  having  written  your 
sermon  carefully,  make  short  notes  of  it  and  preach 
from  these.  This  will  help  you  greatly  to  show  in 
your  manner  that  you  feel  what  you  say,  the  first 
and  chiefest  rule  for  making  it  felt  by  others.' 

An  Oxford  clergyman  says  :  '  I  remember  being 
in  a  position  enabling  me  to  command  the  pulpit 
while  the  Bishop  was  preaching  to  a  congregation  in 
which  were  a  number  of  clergy.  I  was  able,  from  where 
I  was  sitting,  to  see  the  MS.  which  the  Bishop  had 
before  him  and  the  leaves  of  which  he  occasionally 
turned  ;  but  I  noticed  that  the  MS.  was  upside  down. 
When  the  service  was  ended,  I  asked  the  Bishop  why 
he  had  preached  with  a  MS.  upside  down  before  him,  he 
answered  with  a  smile  :  "  For  the  benefit  of  the  younger 
clergy." '  And  then  added  more  seriously :  '  I  am 
afraid  of  their  beginning  to  preach  extempore  before 
they  are  able  to  do  so  with  advantage  to  their  hearers. 
I  myself  preached  written  sermons  for  fifteen  years 
after  my  ordination.'  It  is  an  interesting  and  charac- 
teristic fact  that  one  of  the  greatest  of  the  Bishop's 
University  sermons  was  preached  from  no  other  note 
than  the  single  word  '  Fog '  written  on  the  back  of  an 
envelope ;  and  the  writer  of  these  pages  perfectly  re- 
members coming  one  day  into  the  study  at  Lavington 
to  ask  the  Bishop  if  he  could  be  of  any  help,  and  being 

vol  .  III.  H 


98  LIFE   OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.        chap.  ill. 

told,  '  No,  because  I  am  trying  to  think  what  I  said  at 
Oxford  ten  days  ago,  when  I  preached  two  sermons 
which  I  have  been  requested  so  earnestly  to  publish 
that  I  cannot  refuse  ;  and  I  have  not  a  notion  what  I 
said.'  ^ 

Indeed  the  Bishop's  great  readiness  could  not  but 
make  his  example  a  dangerous  one  to  be  imitated  by 
men  of  inferior  capacity.  On  one  occasion  he  had 
undertaken  to  preach  a  course  of  sermons,  before  the 
Ordination,  in  the  chapel  at  Cuddesdon  College  and 
had  desired  the  Vice- Principal  to  suggest  the  subjects 
three  months  before  '  that  he  might  have  time  for 
preparation  ; '  this  direction  was  complied  with  and  on 
the  evening  of  the  day  when  the  course  was  to  begin 
the  Bishop  arrived  from  London  by  a  train  which  just 
brought  him  in  time  for  service.  On  the  Vice-Princi- 
pal's  going  to  meet  him  at  the  Palace,  where  the  Bishop 
was  hastily  getting  rid  of  his  travelling  cloak  and 
making  ready  for  the  chapel,  '  By  the  by,'  said  the 
Bishop,  '  my  dear ,  was  there  any  subject  in  par- 
ticular on  which  you  wished  me  to  speak  this  evening  ?  ' 
The  Vice- Principal's  heart  sank  within  him,  and  he  re- 
minded the  Bishop  of  the  course  of  sermons  which  had 
been  suggested,  at  his  own  desire,  three  months  before. 
By  this  time  they  had  reached  the  chapel,  and  the 
service  began.  The  sermon  which  the  Bishop  preached, 
on  a  somewhat  difficult  and  delicate  subject,  would  not 
have  led  any  of  his  hearers  to  suspect  that  it  had  not 
been  a  subject  of  anxious  thought  for  many  weeks  or 
months.^ 

In  these  later  years  of  the  Bishop's  episcopate  he 

*  The  recollections  came,  as  the  sennons  were  published  and  no  exception 
taken  to  them,  although  ten  days  had  elapsed  since  the  deliver)',  and  a  short- 
hand writer  had,  as  the  Bishop  saw,  followed  him  in  one  of  the  sermons  through- 
out. 

'  Communicated  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Liddon. 


1863.  EVENTS  OF  THE   YEAR.  99 

seldom  wrote  a  sermon,  the  pressure  of  work  was  so 
great  that  for  writing  there  was  no  time ;  the  Diary 
always  records  such  an  event  as  writing  a  whole 
sermon.  It  is  however  worthy  of  record  that  scarcely 
ever  did  the  Bishop,  habituated  as  he  was  to  preaching, 
preach  an  unprepared  sermon  ;  occasionally  the  Diary 
furnishes  an  instance  such  as  '  Very  nervous  because 
sermon  was  unprepared ; '  and  in  one  of  these  rare 
instances  where  such  a  record  exists  the  congregation 
to  whom  he  was  preaching  was  a  small  ordinary  village 
congregation  in  a  purely  agricultural  district. 

Writing  to  Mr.  Gordon  the  Bishop  gives  an  account 
of  some  of  the  principal  events  of  the  year  and  fitly 
ends  this  chapter  : — 

The  Bishop  of  Oxford  to  the  Hon.  A7'thii7'  Gordon. 

Up-park,  Petersfield,  December  10,  1863. 

My  dearest  Arthur, — Yours  of  Nov.  23  reached  me  yester- 
day. Your  former  most  interesting  and  welcome  letter 
reached  me  duly  and  to  it  I  should  have  replied,  but  I 
listened  to  the  rumour  that  you  were  on  your  route  homeward 
and  I  thought  my  answer  would  m.iss  you,  and  so,  with  the 
ready  self-excusing  of  a  very  busy  man,  I  too  easily  persuaded 
myself  that  it  would  be  no  use  vmting  then.  Many  thanks 
for  yesterday's  letter — very  interesting  throughout.  The 
canoe  expeditions  must  be  absolutely  delightful ;  how  I 
should  enjoy  them,  and  the  sitting  with  you,  and  hearing  the 
low  hum  of  the  Indian  tales  at  night.  It  has  been  an  interesting 
year  with  me.  First,  Ernest's  marriage,'  which  seems  a  really 
happy  one  and  has  brought  a  beam  of  sunlight  into  my  so 
long  shadowed  house.  God  be  praised  for  it !  Then  rather 
severe  illness  and,  partly  to  recruit  from  it,  partly  to  share 
my  children's  honeymoon,  a  trip  to  Switzerland — Zermatt 
and  the  /Eggis   Horn  being  new   to   me.      After  a  little  I 


^&t>' 


'  To  Frances  Mary,  third  daughter  of  Sir  Charles  Anderson,  Bart.     She  died 
1870. 

H  2 


lOO  LIFE   OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.        chap.  iir. 

enjoyed  it  very  much  and  it  most  undoubtedly  sent  me 
home  vastly  stronger.  Then  my  visitation,  only  just  accom- 
plished, after  six  weeks  of  harder  and  more  continuous  work 
than  I  have  ever  tried. 

I  have  come  out  now  for  a  few  days'  change.  I  went  on 
Monday  to  Lord  Stanhope's,  at  Chevening.  Party — Lord 
and  Lady  Hardinge,  both  of  whom  I  like  ;  Sir  E.  Head,  my 
old  college  companion  and,  as  you  know,  with  not  a  little 
to  say  for  himself;  Cardwell  and  Mrs.;  he  too  is  very  much 
unchanged  —  the  same  meditative,  introverted,  susceptible 
spirit  ever  at  work  ;  then  Gibbs  and  the  F.  Barings  completed 
a  pleasant  party.  I  do  not  think  that  there  is  here  any  ex- 
pectation of  war,  though  the  needless  rudeness  of  Lord  Rus- 
sell's refusal  of  the  Congress  must  sorely  have  annoyed  our 
'  Great  Ally.'  Hayward  says  that  Lord  Palmerston  is  far 
better  this  year  than  last :  '  Last  year  I  could  beat  him  at 
billiards  but  this  year  he  plays  so  much  better  a  game  that 
he  beat  me  easily.'  If  we  were  sitting  under  that  beech  tree  at 
Lavington  I  might  whisper  to  you  ...  of  the  curious  under- 
history  of  Trench's  appointment  to  the  archbishopric  with 
which  neither  Palmerston  or  Lord  Carlisle  can  claim  author- 
ship— indeed,  Carlisle  told  Trench  he  had  done  all  in  his 
power  to  secure  Fitzgerald's  appointment.  .  .  .  The  one 
real  evil  in  our  view  is  what  you  touch  upon— the  decay  of 
faith.  Newman  wrote  lately  about  it  to  Isa^c  Williams, 
saying,  *  We  can  do  nothing  against  it ;  it  all  rests  with  your 
Church.  You  have  still  a  mighty  power  of  resisting  it,  if 
you  will  use  it.'  There  is  certainly  on  the  other  side  a  great 
and  marked  growth  of  faith.  I  do  not  think  that  Renan's 
book  will  do  much  harm  ;  it  is  a  sign  of  the  temper  of  which 
I  speak,  but  it  is  so  simply  Ebionite  that  I  do  not  anticipate 
its  at  all  strongly  affecting  the  current  of  thought :  I  would 
almost  hope  that  for  us  as  showing  whither  if  yielded  to, 
the  tempest  would  drive  us,  it  may  be  rather  establishing 
than  uprooting.  I  have  great  fears  of  Stanley  ;  it  seems  to 
me  that,  charming  as  he  is,  he  is  drifting  farther  and  farther 
from  all  positive  belief.  .  .  . 

I   wish  I   could   be  a   '  fish-hawk  '  with  you  along  those 
rivers.     I  have  delighted   in  angling  in  my  day  and  would 


1863.  'GLADSTONE    THE  NEXT  CHIEF:  loi 

gladly  change  for  awhile  with  '  the  slayer  of  the  red-toothed 
one,'  for  a  little  of  your  company.  Sir  H.  Holland,  who  got 
back  safe  from  all  his  American  rambles,  has  been  taken  by 
Palmerston  through  the  river  at  Broadlands  and  been  very 
ill.  The  Dean  of  Lincoln  (Garnier)  is  just  dead  and  another 
deanery,  for  Palmerston  to  abuse,  vacant.  All  seem  coming 
to  the  conclusion  that  Gladstone  is  the  next  real  chief,  either 
as  nominal  or  as  leading  the  Commons.  I  want  him  to  insist 
on  the  first  post.  The  Duke  of  Newcastle  very  ill,  and  many 
rumours  of  retiring — heart  palpitation,  &c.  Dearest  Arthur, 
here  is  a  real  budget  of  home  news,  to  end  in  the  assurance 
that  you  are  ever  very  dear  to  your  very  affectionate 

S.  OxoN. 


102  LIFE   OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.         chap.  iv. 


CHAPTER   IV. 

(1861-1866.) 

CORRESPONDENCE  ON  THE  SUPREME  COURT  OF  APPEAL  WITH  MR.  GLAD- 
STONE— LETTER  TO  LORD  WESTBURY — DISCUSSION  ON  SUPREME  COURT 
BY  THE  BISHOPS — BISHOP  COLENSO'S  FIRST  BOOK — MEETING  OF  BISHOPS 
—  LETTER  TO  BISHOP  COLENSO  —  SECOND  MEETING  OF  BISHOPS  —  RE- 
SOLUTION TO  INHIBIT — THIRD  MEETING  OF  BISHOPS — JOINT  LETTER  TO 
BISHOP  COLENSO — BISHOP  GRAY'S  PLAN  OF  ACTION — DRAFT  FORM  OF 
EXCOMMUNICATION — LETTER  TO  THE  BISHOP  OF  CAPETOWN — LETTER 
ON  THE  JUDGMENT  —  LETTER  ON  EXCOMMUNICATION  —  MR.  KEBLE'S 
OPINION. 

A  CORRESPONDENCE  between  the  Bishop  and  Mr. 
Gladstone,  which  began  in  1861,  shows  what  they  at 
that  time  considered  would  be  a  solution  of  the 
question  as  to  a  Supreme  Court  of  Appeal.  The 
scheme  difters  materially  from  Bishop  Blomfield's  Bill 
of  1850,  It  was  then  proposed  to  make  the  whole  Epi- 
scopal body  a  Board  of  Reference,  whereas  the  more 
recent  scheme  limited  the  number  of  referees,  and  it 
included  the  Irish  Church.  As  has  been  already 
shown, ^  the  Bishop's  great  aim  was  to  remove  the  spi- 
ritual element  from  the  Judicial  Committee.  This  par- 
ticular result  was  not  to  be  attained  at  that  time,  as 
owing  to  various  causes — one  of  them  a  want  of  unani- 
mity on  the  part  of  the  Episcopate — the  proposed 
scheme  was  abandoned.  An  entry  in  the  Diary  on 
June  2 1  shows  however  that  the  venerable  Archbishop 
of  Canterbury,  as  well  as  the  Archbishop  of  York,  had 
approved  of  the  proposal. 

'  Vol.  ii. 


i86i-6.  COURT  OF  APPEAL. 


103 


The  Right  Hon.  W.  E.  Gladstone  to  the 
Bishop  of  Oxford. 

Havvarden,  Jan.  7,  1S61. 

My  dear  Bishop  of  Oxford, — I  should  much  like  to  know 
whether  you  expect  to  be  in  town  before  the  meeting-  of 
Padiament,  and  if  so  on  what  day  or  days.  I  wish  particularly 
to  speak  to  you  about  a  Court  of  Appeal,  There  might 
possibly,  I  think,  be  an  opportunity  in  conjunction  with  the 
Irish  Registries  Bill  of  proposing  something  of  the  kind 
which  I  think  you  incline  to,  viz, :  an  Episcopal  Juiy  of 
referees, 

Cardwell  says,  and  truly,  that  his  Bill  of  last  year  was  de 
facto  adopted,  as  far  as  the  public  knew,  by  three  successive 
Governments,  and  that  it  is  hardly  likely  the  subject  will  be 
allowed  to  sleep. 

It  might  be  well  to  advise  him  to  separate  what  relates  to 
Registries  from  what  relates  to  the  Court  of  Appeal.  Indeed, 
it  would  be  necessary  if  the  latter  measure  is  to  be  English  as 
well  as  Irish. 

The  latter  subject  is  in  itself  proper  for  the  notice  of  Con- 
vocation and  has  been  fairly  presented,  so  as  to  challenge 
such  notice,  by  the  Bill  of  last  and  former  years.  If  notice 
could  be  taken,  and  could  be  in  the  direction  favourable  to  a 
plan  which  the  Government  also  might  adopt,  a  good  thing 
would  have  been  done.  At  the  same  time,  though  I  could 
not  resist  {per  se)  I  do  not  desire  an  united  Court  of  Appeal. 
I  am  here  till  the  end  of  the  week.    Ever  affectionately  yours, 

W.  E.  Gladstone. 

The  Bishop  of  Oxford  to  the  Right  Hon. 
IV.  E.  Gladstone, 

Cuddesdon,  January  9,  i86r. 

My  dear  Gladstone, — I  am  to  be  in  town  Feb.  i,  to 
meet  the  Archbishops  and  Bishops  in  consultation.  I  rather 
hope  to  meet  you  at  Witley  Court  on  the  24th  ;  at  least 
Lord  Dudley  has  baited  his  hook  for  me  with  the  promise. 
Certainly  nothing  could  be  more  important  than  such  a  move 


I04 


LIFE   OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE. 


CHAR  17. 


as  you  suggest.  Would  Convocation  or  the  meeting  of  the 
Bishops  be  the  best  body  for  such  a  discussion }  It  is  so 
difficult,  in  the  short  time  for  which  Convocation  sits,  to  get  the 
Lower  House  to  come  to  any  conclusion.  As  to  the  point  of 
wJiat  the  Court  of  Appeal  should  be,  I  foresee  infinite 
difficulty.  The  first  and  great  object  is  to  get  the  Bishops 
off  the  Privy  Council  on  these  appeals.  Their  presence  there 
gives  to  the  Court  the  look  of  an  Ecclesiastical  Court  and  so 
commits  us.  I  would,  if  we  can  get  nothing  more,  far  rather 
simply  get  rid  of  them  thence  than  have  them  there.  The 
only  other  plan  is,  doubtless,  to  let  the  Court  send  issues  to 
be  replied  upon.  If  we  could  limit  this  to  the  Archbishop 
and  Bishops  or  some  of  them  of  the  Canterbury  Province,  it 
would  be  far  the  best  arrangement  which  /  have  ever  yet  had 
before  me.  Will  you  turn  your  own  thoughts  to  the  what  we 
can  suggest .-'  Heartily  wishing  you  and  all  yours  every  New 
Year's  blessing,  I  am  affectionately  yours,  ^   Oxon 


The  Right  Hon.  W.  E.  Gladstone  to  the 
Bishop  of  Oxford. 

Hawarden,  Jan.  ii,  1861. 

My  dear  Bishop  of  Oxford, — What  would  you  say  to  such  a 
scheme  as  the  following,  it  being  borne  in  mind  that  the  unwise 
proposal  to  establish  one  Court  of  Appeal  for  the  two  Churches 
is  taken  for  granted  in  it } 

A  Court  or  body  to  be  formed  which  is  to  report  its  judg- 
ment on  any  question  of  doctrine  or  discipline  for  the  better 
information  of  the  Court  of  Appeal,  without  prejudice  to 
the  prerogative  or  discretion  of  the  Crown. 

There  are  four  Provinces  which  may  be  roughly  described 
as  follows  in  regard  to  sees,  clergy  and  people : — 


Bishops 

Clergy 

Laity 

Canterbury 

York 

Armagh  .          .         1 

Dublin     .          .         f 

20 

8 

6? 

6? 

12,000? 
4,000? 
2,000 

10,000,000? 
4,000,000? 
1,000,000 

iS6i^6.       MR.  GLADSTONE'S  PROPOSALS.  105 

It  is  assumed  that  the  Colonial  Churches  cannot  be  repre- 
sented in  this  Court. 

Let  Canterbury  be  represented  by 

Archbishop    .......    '\ 

Bishop  of  London  .  .  .  .  .  .    (    _       , 

T^,     ^       0     ■      T)-  1  f   Ii''  all  seven 

The  two  Senior  Jjishops  .         .         .         . 

Two  Bishops  chosen  by  all  the  comprovincials     ) 

York,  by  Archbishop       .....) 

Two  Senior  Bishops        .         .         .  •         .    j     ' 

Armagh,  Dublin,  by  two  Archbishops     .         .         .  two 

Total  .....        twelve 

If  either  of  the  Irish  Archbishops  be  the  person  appealed 
against,  then  the  Bishop  of  Meath  to  sit  in  his  place. 

But,  by  a  scheme  like  this,  twenty-eight  Bishops  out  of 
forty  are  excluded.  The  Convocations  of  the  respectiv^e 
provinces,  it  would  seem,  ought  to  be  parties  to  it  by  address 
or  otherwise.  This  is  a  great  difficulty.  But  if  Canterbury 
led  the  way,  York  would  probably  follow  and,  I  take  it,  the 
Irish  would  be  too  happy  to  come  in  on  any  terms. 

Another  difficulty  would  remain  in  the  discrepancies  of 
law  ;  but  this  might  be  dealt  with  at  an  aftertime,  the  rule  in 
our  time  being,  as  to  all  Church  matters,  to  put  the  cart  before 
the  horse.     Yours  affectionately, 

W.  E.  Gladstone. 


The  Bishop  of  Oxford  to  the  Right  Hon. 
W.  E.  Gladstone. 

Cuddesdon  Palace,  Jan.  16,  1861. 

My  dear  Gladstone, — The  only  alteration  I  would  propose 
in  your  body  of  Referee  Bishops  is  that  for  the  Province  of 
York  I  would  have  the  senior  and  one  elected.  I  think  it 
would  be  very  useful  to  move  this  matter  in  our  upper  House 
if  I  could  do  it  with  an  assurance  of  the  Government  accepting 
it.  The  form  which  I  think  would  be  the  best  to  take  would 
be  that  of  an  address  to  the  Queen  praying  Her  Majesty,  in 
the  event  of  any  legislation,  to  take  into  her  Royal  considera- 
tion such  a  plan.  If  I  might  mention  in  confidence  to  the 
Archbishop  and  one  or  two  more  that  if  such  an  address  were 


I06  LIFE   OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.  chap.  iv. 

presented  it  would  be  favourably  received  I  think  I  should 
be  able  to  carry  it.  Could  you  so  manage  that  any  such 
assurance  could  be  in  my  hands  .''  If  not,  I  will  still  make 
the  attempt  if  you  think  it  well.  I  am  ever  affectionately 
yours, 

S.  OXON. 

The  BisJiGp  of  Oxfoi'd  to  the  Right  Hon. 
IV.  E.  Gladstone. 

March  21,  1862. 

My  dear  Gladstone, — -I  found  the  Bishop  of  London  un- 
willing to  postpone  absolutely  ;  I  therefore  suggested  and 
carried  the  second  course  you  recommended.  We  wrote  a 
joint  letter  to  the  Lord  Chancellor  pointing  out  the  difference 
between  the  amending  the  Clergy  Discipline  Bill  as  we  had 
tinaniinoiisly  agreed  to  do,  and  passing  a  new  Act  which  must 
deal  with  the  Court  of  Final  Appeal,  the  relations  of  the 
Irish  Church,  &c.  We  therefore  desired,  as  this  most  import- 
ant alteration  had  been  introduced  into  it,  to  have  a  fresh 
consultation  with  him  at  which  we  thought  it  desirable,  if 
possible,  to  have  also  the  help  of  the  Home  Secretary  and 
the  head  of  the  Government  ;  and  as  Wednesday  next  would 
be  the  most  convenient  day  to  us  we  would,  to  save  time, 
send  copies  of  this  communication  at  once  to  Sir  G.  Grey 
and  Lord  Palmerston.  Thus  the  matter  is  now  brought 
regularly  under  their  notice.  But  now  I  want  you  to  weigh 
this.  If  out  of  this  move  we  could  educe  a  real  amendment 
of  the  Court  of  Final  Appeal,  and  at  the  same  time  guard 
ourselves  against  the  always  imminent  danger  of  having,  by 
either  Government,  the  Irish  Bishops  put  on  the  English 
Privy  Council  and  made  the  actual  deciders  of  our  doctrine, 
we  should  indeed  have  done  a  great  thing.  I  inclose  you  a 
clause  for  your  consideration  which  would,  I  believe,  work, 
which  would  provide  a  common  Court  of  Appeal  for  both 
branches  and  which  would  be  a  great  improvement  on  the 
existing  law.  Will  you  consider  it  and,  if  you  see  fit,  move 
in  it  .''     I  am  ever  affectionately  yours,  o   q^q^t 


1 86 1 -6.  EPISCOPAL  REFEREES.  107 

The  Right  Hon.  W.  E.  Gladstone  to  the 
Bishop  of  Oxford. 

Downing  Street,  March  24,  1S62. 

My  dear  Bishop  of  Oxford, — Though  I  do  not  anticipate 
any  advantage  to  the  Church  of  England  from  bringing  into 
close  association  with  it  a  body  which  is  inferior  to  it  in  tone, 
learning  and  practical  power,  yet  we  must  not  wholly  over- 
look the  benefit  to  the  other  party,  and  I  for  one  am  not 
prepared  to  object,  in  limine,  to  any  proposition  having  such 
a  view  which  does  not  reopen  by  new  civil  recognitions  the 
formidable  question  of  the  political  status  of  the  Irish  Church. 

When  Cardwell  was  Secretary  for  Ireland  I  recommended 
to  him,  as  the  basis  of  a  plan  (if  a  plan  must  be  had),  the 
leading  suggestions  contained  in  the  draft  you  have  sent  me. 
Putting  Ireland  out  of  view,  of  which  I  have  already  spoken, 
I  think  if  you  can  settle  the  vexed  question  of  appeal  on  this 
reasonable  and  constitutional  basis  you  will  do  well. 

Much  will  depend  on  the  great  potentate  of  the  House  of 
Lords  but  possibly  you  may,  from  former  transactions,  have 
some  inkling  of  his  views. 

I  will  now  offer  various  remarks  on  the  draft,  but  they 
are  all,  as  you  will  see,  in  furtherance  of  its  purpose. 

1.  Constitute  these  Episcopal  Referees  into  a  body ;  make 
them  not  plural,  but  singular,  by  calling  them  a  Court,  com- 
mittee, or — perhaps  better — a  Board.  It  is  only  as  a  body, 
not  as  individuals,  that  they  can  have  any  good  title. 

2.  Whatever  else  happens,  strike  out  *  or  if  they  do  not 
agree,  their  several  opinions,'  and  again  twice  '  or  opinions.' 
To  me  this  seems  objectionable,  and  almost  to  destroy  the 
whole  merit  of  the  plan.  It  w'ould  be  far  better  that  the 
Court  should  simply  throw  overboard  the  opinion  of  the 
whole  than  that  it  should  pretend,  and  be  authorised  to  pre- 
tend, to  act  as  umpire  between  parts.  The  majority  is,  de 
Jure,  the  whole,  and  the  president,  without  reference  to  his 
own  individual  opinion,  would  subscribe  or  a  seal  might  be 
affixed,  for  the  whole. 

3.  I  am  doubtful  about  the  assignment  of  reasons.  If 
they  arc  given   they   are   given    to   be    debated.     Now,   the 


108  LIFE   OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.  chap.  iv. 

opinion  contemplated  is,  in  everything  but  its  being  binding, 
a  verdict ;  it  is  upon  a  matter  exclusively  committed  to  those 
who  deliver  it  and  I  am  afraid  the  reasons  would  weaken 
the  authority  ;  in  many  cases,  too,  the  reasons  would  amount, 
or  ought  to  amount,  to  a  theological  treatise. 

4.  It  would,  I  apprehend,  be  more  regular  to  say,  '  shall 
report '  them,  '  shall  recommend  such  judgment ' — but  perhaps 
this  has  been  examined,  and  I  speak  subject  to  correction. 

5.  In  lieu  of  six  and  three  two's  I  would  recommend  five,  two 
and  two  ones.  Also,  would  it  not  be  right  that  the  Bishop  of 
London  should  be  one  ex  officio  } 

My  reasons  for  the  reduction  are  {a)  it  makes  a  rather 
more  manageable  body,  thirteen  for  sixteen  ;  {b)  it  gives  a 
fairer  proportion,  on  the  whole,  to  Canterbury  as  compared 
with  the  whole  {-^-,  instead  of  -^-^  ;  to  York,  as  compared  with 
Canterbury  (|-  instead  of  ^) — for  we  must  not,  I  think,  overlook 
the  numbers  of  clergy  and  lay  people  represented  ;  above  all, 
of  England  as  compared  with  Ireland.  It  must  be  understood 
that  -f-^  or  f  of  the  tribunal  should  be  suppHed,  not  only  by 
W  or  -^j^  of  the  episcopate,  but  by  perhaps  y^  of  the  clergy 
and  -V  of  the  laity. 

The  only  part  of  my  reduction  I  do  not  feel  clear  about  is 
the  diminution  of  one  for  Canterbury. 

Four  out  of  thirteen  or  fourteen  would  be  a  very  large 
allowance  for  Ireland — as  large  as  decency  would  permit. 

6.  Why  not  simply  provide  that  five  shall  be  a  quorum  .-' 

7.  If  the  Archbishop  or  Bishop  of  the  highest  rank  is  to 
preside,  must  there  not  be  some  further  specification  of  the 
respective  ranks }  I  return  your  inclosure,  and  remain 
affectionately  yours,  ^^  ^   GLADSTONE."^ 

The  Bishop  of  Oxford  to  the  Right  Hon. 
W.  E.  Gladstone. 

Stoke  Park,  March  25,  1862. 

My  dear  Gladstone, — We  have  altered  the  clauses  accord- 
ing to  your  suggestion,  except  not  putting  the  Bishop  of  London 
officially  on  the  Board.     I   do  not  think  it  would  do  to  put 

2  por  the  Scheme  see  Appendix  A. 


i86i-6.  LETTER   TO  LORD    IVESTBURY 


109 


him  on,  and  to  leave  Durham  off  it,  or  to  put  on  London  and 

Durham  and   leave   out  Winchester.     I   have  not  spoken  to 

Lord  Derby  on  the  subject,  but  I  will  take  an  opportunity  of 

doing  so.     I  have  heard  nothing  yet  as  to  whether  we  are  to 

have  our  interview  with   Lord  Palmerston,  Sir  G.  Grey  and 

the  Chancellor.     Could  the  Government  or  Sir  R.  Palmer  be 

in  any  way  favourably  impressed  as  to  this  measure  }     I  am 

ever  affectionately  yours,  „    „ 

^  ^         '  S.  OXON. 

Lord  Westbiiry,  at  that  time  Chancellor,  was  op- 
posed to  any  change  in  the  Court  of  Appeal.  In  writing 
to  him  the  Bishop  discusses  the  subject  from  a  some- 
what wider  point  of  view. 

June  27,  1863. 

The  latter  part  of  your  letter  fills  me  with  dismay.  I 
should  quite  have  expected  that  having  to  preside  at  that 
most  anomalous  Court  would  convince  one  of  so  clear  an 
intuition  and  so  masterly  an  intellect  that  it  was  an  in- 
tolerable mixture  of  iron  and  clay  (I  do  not  distribute  the 
predicates).  But  you  will  pardon  me  if  I  maintain  that  all  I 
have  asked  in  altering  the  Court  is  the  creating  no  iinpcriiLin 
in  iinperio,  but  is  simply  necessary  to  give  entire  efficiency 
to  the  working  of  the  purely  legal  court.  I  propose,  not  that 
the  ecclesiastics  should  be  asked  how  the  Church  is  to  decide, 
but  that  whenever  a  question  of  the  Divine  law  is  involved  in 
the  decision  the  ecclesiastics  should  be  asked  what  is  the 
doctrine  of  the  Church  of  England  on  that  question.  The 
fact  of  this  answer  would  satisfy  the  Church  that  her  doctrines 
remained  intact  under  the  legal  decision,  e.^.  in  the  Gorham 
case  the  lawyer  would  still,  it  may  be,  have  decided  that  Mr. 
Gorham's  book  did  not  so  categorically  contradict  the  for- 
mularies and  articles  as  to  subject  him  to  deprivation.  But 
with  this  would  have  gone  out  the  ecclesiastical  answer  that 
the  Church  of  England  taught  that  every  rightly  baptised 
infant  was  regenerate,  and  this  would  have  saved  us  from  the 
great  schism  under  which  we  have  ever  since  languished. 
But  my  dismay  is  for  the  present. 

If,  constituted  as  it  noiv  is,  with  its  mischievous  semblance 


no  LIFE   OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.  chap.  iv. 

of  being  '  a  Court  Christian,'  the  Committee  of  Council  advise 
Her  Majesty  to  reverse  the  sentence  of  the  Court  below 
*  actum  est  de  Ecclesia  Anglicana.'  I  admit  all  the  folly  and 
self-contradiction  and  ignorant  arrogance  of  Dr.  Lushington's 
judgment ;  and  yet  I  maintain  that,  whilst  casting  out  the 
plainest  grounds  of  condemnation  and  retaining  and  strain- 
ing the  weakest  —  enough  remains  to  condemn  both  of 
these  misty  men,  on  the  simplest  legal  grounds,  to  the 
common  sentence  of  mistiness — that  they,  in  their  period  of 
suspension,  must  wait  till  the  sun  shines  on  them  before  they 
publicly  teach,  and  I  am  sadly  convinced  that  if  this  be  not 
done,  it  will  not  be  that  the  reasonable  liberty  of  thought,  for 
which  I  am  deeply  solicitous,  and  for  which  you  plead,  will 
be  preserved  to  the  Church  of  England  ;  but  that,  on  the 
other  hand,  her  faithful  members  will  receive  a  blow  which 
will  send  a  multitude  more  to  Rome,  and,  on  the  other  side, 
that  her  own  belief  will  be  most  deeply  endangered.  May 
God  avert  such  a  blow  from  us  ! 

The  proposed  alteration  of  the  Supreme  Court  of 
Appeal  received  the  support  of  the  venerable  Bishop 
of  Exeter,  among  others,  who  said,  '  I  decidedly  prefer 
abandoning  the  Court  to  the  lawyers,  if  thereby  we 
can  secure  a  reference  of  doctrinal  questions  to  the 
Church.'  Of  the  ecclesiastical  lawyers,  both  Sir  R. 
Phillimore  and  Dr.  A.  J.  Stephens  approved  the 
scheme ;  the  latter  recommended  the  principle  of  the 
proposed  Court  of  Reference  to  the  Irish  Prelates. 

In  1864  Mr.  Gladstone,  who  had  approved  of  the 
constitution  of  a  Board  of  Reference  in  1862,  changed 
his  opinion.  He  proposed  that  the  Judicial  Com- 
mittee should  be  strengthened.  He  proposed  to  add 
the  Bishop  of  Winchester  to  the  Court  as  a  perma- 
nent member,  and  farther  to  summon  as  assessors 
for  a  Canterbury  case  two  Bishops  of  the  province, 
chosen  by  the  episcopate  of  the  province ;  in  a 
York    case,    one    Bishop    similarly   elected  ;    and    in 


1 86 1-6.  DISCUSSION  BY  THE  BISBOPS.  Ill 

an  Armagh  or  Dublin  case,  the  Archbishop  of  the 
See.  The  principle  of  this  proposal  could  not  be 
accepted  by  the  Bishop,  as  it  would  have  left  the 
Judicial  Committee  a  mixed  court  of  lawyers  and 
divines,  which  was  the  very  thing  the  Bishop  desired 
to  change.  Although  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury 
and  many  of  the  bishops  were  favourable  to  the 
Bishop's  proposal,  the  bench  was  far  from  unanimous, 
the  Archbishop  of  York  and  the  Bishop  of  London 
being  the  leaders  of  the  opposition.  From  the 
Bishop's  notes  of  a  discussion  which  took  place  in 
February  1865,  it  appears  that  their  opposition  was 
based  on  the  following  grounds  :  that  the  moving 
for  a  new  Court  would  seem  at  the  present  time  to  be 
a  censure  of  the  late  judgment, ■''  the  Bishop  of  London 
going  so  far  as  to  say  that  it  would  be  a  censure  on 
himself,  also  that  the  decision  of  the  spiritual  element 
might  be  ignored  by  the  lay  judges  or  that  it  might 
be  not  unanimous,  and  that  in  the  Court,  as  at  pre- 
sent constituted,  whenever  the  three  spiritual  judges 
did  agree,  the  Law  Lords  would  yield  to  their  decision. 
The  diary  for  the  day  records  as  follows  : — 

February  10. — To  Lambeth  by  a  quarter  to  eleven.  Long 
discussion  on  Court  of  Appeal,  ending  with  Archbishop  of 
York's  great  wrath  about  my  answer  to  his  saying  ;  '  It  does 
not  hurt  you  or  me.' 

On  the  1 6th  the  diary  states  : — 

With  Lord  Derby  about  Wellington  College.  Talked 
with  him  about  Court  of  Appeal  ;  he  said  he  could  not  make 
it  a  party  question,  although  he  was  favourable  to  the  pro- 
posal himself :  would  Lord  Ly ttelton  move  it  1 

The  day  before,  in   Convocation,  the  Bishop  had 
given  public  utterance  to  the  views  which  have  been 

^  Essays  and  Reviews. 


1 1 2  LIFE   OF  BISHOP   WILBERFORCE.         chap.  iv. 

already  described.  His  concluding  words  show  that 
he  did  this  with  the  object  of  obtaining  an  expression 
of  opinion  from  the  Bishops  on  this  subject.  His 
words  run  thus  : — 

I  am  most  thankful  that  this  discussion  has  drawn  forth 
an  almost  unanimous  expression  of  opinion  that  there  should  be 
an  inquiry  into  the  constitution  of  the  Court,  with  a  view  to 
amendment,  and  I  believe  that  the  fair  spirit,  the  good  sense 
and  the  honesty  of  Englishmen,  if  inquiry  should  be  made, 
will  cause  such  changes  as  we  need  to  be  carried  into  effect.'' 

Referring  to  this  subject  in  1866,  the  Bishop,  in  the 
Charge  for  that  year,  says  : — 

The  grave  question  of  the  reconstitution  of  the  Court  of 
Final  Appeal  in  matters  of  doctrine  remains  unsettled.  It  is 
one  the  issues  of  which  are  so  important  that,  provided  only 
it  is  not  let  to  fall  asleep,  I  would  rather  see  it  wait  the 
gradual  clearing  away  of  difficulties,  than  risk  the  dangers  of 
a  too  hasty  settlement. 

The  difficulties  which  surrounded  this  question 
were  not  cleared  away  during  the  Bishop's  lifetime. 
He  was,  however,  able  to  accomplish  one  alteration, 
which  he  had  much  at  heart,  in  the  constitution  of  the 
Court,  namely,  the  separation  of  the  clerical  from  the 
legal  judges  ;  for,  during  the  passage  of  the  new  Judica- 
ture Bill  through  Parliament  in  i^']Z^  the  Bishop  was 
instrumental  In  Introducing  a  clause  which  removed 
the  Archbishops  and  the  Bishop  of  London  from  the 
Judicial  Committee ;  two  years  later  they  were  again 
placed  upon  it,  but  as  assessors,  not  as  judges. 

In  July  1 86 1,  Dr.  Colenso,  then  Bishop  of  Natal, 
had  published  his  Commentary  on  St.  Paul's  Epistle  to 
the  Romans.     The  publication  of  this  and  other  works 

^  A  Royal  Commission  was  appointed  for  such  inquiry  in  i8So;  but  at  the 
time  of  writing  has  not  yet  sent  in  its  report. 


1 86 1 -6.  BISHOP   COLENSO.  II3 

on  theological  questions  determined  Dr.  Gray,  Bishop 
of  Capetown  to  put  in  force  the  authority  he  believed 
himself  to  possess,  that  of  citing  Dr.  Colenso  before 
him  as  metropolitan,  trying  him,  and  in  the  event  of 
his  being  found  guilty,  depriving  him  of  his  office.  At 
least  a  year  before  any  proceedings  were  taken,  Dr. 
Gray  knew  that  Dr.  Colenso  questioned  this  metro- 
political  authority,  for,  writing  on  December  2,  i860,  to 
Bishop  Wilberforce,  he  says,  *  I  am  more  and  more 
alarmed  about  the  Bishop  of  Natal's  mind  and  views.' 
This  was  on  the  occasion  of  Bishop  Gray  passing  a 
resolution  in  his  Synod  against  a  Mr.  Long  whom 
he  had  suspended  and  who  eventually  appealed  to 
the  Privy  Council  against  the  sentence.  The  Privy 
Council  decided  in  favour  of  the  Bishop,  on  the  ground 
that  the  Church  in  South  Africa  was  a  voluntary 
society  and  that  anyone  joining  voluntarily  such  a 
society  must  be  bound  by  its  rules.  This  decision 
fortified  Bishop  Gray's  impression  that  he  possessed, 
by  law,  supreme  authority  over  the  South  African 
Churches. 

The  history  of  Bishop  Gray's  dealings  with  Bishop 
Colenso  has  been  so  fully  written  ^  that  it  is  only 
necessary  to  refer  to  this  question,  which  undoubtedly 
at  the  time  was  a  very  prominent  one,  in  order  to 
show  the  line  taken  by  Bishop  Wilberforce  in  con- 
nection with  it.  Immediately  on  the  publication  of 
Bishop  Colenso's  book.  Bishop  Gray  wTOte  to  Bishop 
Wilberforce,  asking  whether  he  ought  to  take  counsel 
of  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  or  the  other  Bishops. 
He  concluded  by  saying  that  if  so,  then  he  (Bishop 
Gray)  requested  the  Bishop  to  do  so  in  his  name. 
In    November    1861,   Bishop   Gray  WTOte   himself  to 

'  Li f i'  pf  Robert  Cray,  Bishop  of  Capctoivn.     2  vols.     Rivingtons. 
VOL.  III.  I 


114  ^^^^   OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.         chap.  I  v. 

the  Archbishop,  and  in  the  next  month  he  writes  to 
Bishop  Wilberforce,  saying  of  Bishop  Colenso  :  — 

Poor  dear  fellow,  I  feel  deeply  .c^rieved  about  him  ;  I  really 
believe  that  a  philosophical  Catholic  would  set  him  straight ; 
one  or  two  wrong  principles  are  at  the  bottom  of  his  errors. 
I  think  that  I  shall,  without  entering  into  discussion  with 
him  on  particular  doctrines,  try  to  get  him  to  look  at  his 
opinions  from  a  different  point  of  view  from  what  he  has 
hitherto  done. 

Bishop  Gray,  however,  seems  soon  to  have  altered 
his  hopes  as  to  a  peaceable  solution,  as  in  the  follow- 
ing March  writing  to  Bishop  Wilberforce,  he  urges  a 
condemnation  of  Bishop  Colenso's  book.  He  says  : 
'  I  think  the  book  would  be  condemned  with  more 
weight  \)y  you,  and  that  possibly  the  Archbishop  qua 
Patriarch  might  try  him.'  Bishop  Colenso  and  Bishop 
Gray  both  arrived  in  England  during  the  year.  Before, 
however,  Bishop  Gray  arrived,  the  English  Bishops, 
as  appears  by  the  following  letter,  had  held  two 
meetings  to  consider  the  questions  proposed  by 
Bishop  Gray.  The  Bishop  thus  describes  these 
meetings  : — 

The  Bishop  of  Oxford  to  the  Bishop  of  Capetowii. 

The  Deanery,  Windsor,  June  I,  1862. 

My  dear  Bishop, — We  have  now  held  two  episcopal 
meetings  on  the  Bishop  of  Natal's  case.  The  Archbishop  of 
York  has  presided,  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  though 
apparently  recovered  from  his  attack,  being  ordered  by  his 
doctor  to  forbear  from  all  business  at  present.  Yoit,  can 
understand  the  value  of  his  life.  Of  course  all  that  passed  at 
those  meetings  was  most  confidential :  but  it  can  be  no  breach 
of  confidence  to  say  to  you  for  your  private  guidance  what 
passed.  At  the  last  of  them  the  new  Bishop  of  St.  Helena 
( Claughton)  was  present.  First,  the  Bishop  of  Winchester  com- 
municated to  us  that  the  Archbishop  had  written  out  to  you 


i86i-6.  DISCUSSION  ON  THE  BOOK.  II5 

with  brotherly  sympathy,  but  expressing  that  he  feared,  in  the 
possibility  of  the  case  coming  in  any  way  before  him,  that  he 
could  not  advise  but  that  the  responsibility  must  be  yours. 
Under  these  circumstances  his  Grace  did  not  consult  us  for 
you,  and  so  we  could  not  advise  you.  It  was  therefore  urged 
by  the  Bishop  of  London  that  we  had  nothing  to  do  with  it, 
and  had  better  not  meddle.  I  rejoined  that  though  we  might 
have  nothing  to  do  with  advising  you  we  must  settle  what 
line  to  adopt  on  his  arriving,  Salisbury,  Winchester,  Ripon, 
&c.,  supported  me  and  it  was  resolved  that  the  Bishops 
should  read  the  Commentary  and  reassemble. 

We  met  on  Friday — a  large  number.  .  .  .  York,  London, 
Winchester,  St.  David's,  Lichfield,  Oxford,  St.  Asaph,  Lin- 
coln, Salisbury,  Ripon,  Worcester,  Rochester,  Kilmore,  Killa- 
loe,  Tasmania,  St.  Helena.  The  Bishop  of  Winchester  had 
your  letter  to  Natal  and  his  answer  communicated  by  the 
Archbishop  and  offered  to  read  them.  London  objected. 
The  book  was  all  we  had  to  do  with.  I  replied  ;  St.  David's 
backed  me,  and  after  tedious  discussion  your  letter  was  read. 
The  Bishop  of  London  declared  it  to  be  an  absolute  perver- 
sion of  the  whole  book  :  a  tissue  of  misrepresentation,  &c.  I 
responded,  and  Salisbury  ;  that  it  was  a  clear,  loving,  fair, 
and  most  considerate  statement  of  his  errors.  The  Bishop  of 
Winchester  then  prepared  to  read  the  answer  of  Natal.  Lon- 
don objected.  It  might  be  confidential,  it  might  be  a  con- 
fession— we  ought  not  to  hear  it  except  at  his  request.  A 
long  and  tedious  discussion  followed  ;  and  on  division  whether 
it  be  read,  no  one  supported  London,  so  the  Bishop  of  Win- 
chester read  on.     When  we  came  to  his  avowal  of  believin"- 

o 

that  Holy  Scripture  abounded  in  errors  of  fact,  London  re- 
newed the  question  :  ought  we  to  hear  such  a  letter  .-•  An- 
other discussion,  again  settled  for  reading,  and  it  was  read 
through. 

Then  came  a  long  discussion  as  to  our  course.  I  sug- 
gested that  on  his  landing  wc  should  open  personal  com- 
munication with  him  ;  say  that  he  came  under  a  sort  of 
question  as  to  his  soundness  by  his  metropolitan,  that  zve 
had  read  the  book,  and  without  adjudging  whether  it  was 
heretical  or  not,  were  persuaded  that  its  language  was,  to  say 

I  2 


I  1 6  LIFE   OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.  chap.  iv. 

the  least,  such  that  it  must  suggest  to  the  reader  the  most 
unsound  views,  that  we  therefore  invited  its  suppression,  and, 
faiHng  that,  agreed  to  request  him  not  to  officiate  in  our 
dioceses  until  the  matter  had  been  legally  examined.  All 
except  London  and  St.  David's  were  ready  to  adopt  some 
such  course.  St.  David's  seemed  to  fear  that  such  a  coimncn 
action  had  too  much  the  appearance  of  a  synodical  con- 
demnation without  a  hearing  but  appeared  to  have  no 
objection  to  such  a  line  of  action  by  individual  Bishops  as 
individuals.  London  was  strong  against  action  as  action. 
'  Was  not  prepared  to  say,'  &c.  The  old  story,  '  Did  not 
know  that  it  went  beyond  the  teaching  of  Mr.  Maurice,  whom 
he  had  licensed  to  a  cure.  If  he  did  this,  must  he  not  forbid 
Bishop  of  Brechin,  &c.'  Salisbury  and  Tasmania  spoke  out. 
Lincoln  well.  Lichfield  fair  for  him,  being,  as  you  know, 
timid.  Winchester  with  entire  decision.  But  as  London 
absolutely  declined,  no  conivioii  line  of  action  could  be  under- 
taken. But  my  impression  is  that  this  will  be  the  general 
conduct  of  the  English  Bishops, 

As  to  legal  proceedings,  R.  Phillimore  is  of  opinion  that 
if  your  Cape  judgment  is  affirmed  by  the  Privy  Council  jjw/ 
can  proceed  as  metropolitan  in  a  court  of  audience  with  your 
suft'ragans  and  hear  and  determine.  He  does  not  tJiink  that 
Canterbury  has  any  mode  even  of  hearing  on  appeals :  he  is 
sure  that  he  can  have  no /;7;//^;j  jurisdiction.  I  have  con- 
sulted Phillimore  as  to  the  Proctors,  &c.,  and  have  commu- 
nicated with  your  brother  as  you  desired. 

I  have  been  ill :  a  bad  rheumatic  attack,  on  the  verge  of 
rheumatic  fever,  and  am  rather  pulled  dowm,  but  pretty  well 
now.  I  had  a  hard  day's  work  yesterday,  and  am  not  the 
worse.  The  Archbishop  seems  at  present  quite  well.  The 
last  attack  is  supposed  to  have  been  epileptic  ;  but  of  course 
it  greatly  increases  the  risk  of  a  life,  now  so  very  precious  to 
us.     I  am,  my  dear  Bishop,  your  very  affectionate 

S.  Oxox. 

Hoping  almost  against  hope,  the  Bishop  wrote  to 
Bishop  Colenso  to  persuade  him,  if  possible,  to  take 
no  step  while  in    England  which    would  compel   the 


i86i-6.  LETTER   TO  BISHOP   COLENSO. 


117 


Bishops,  either  individually  or  collectively,  to  notice  the 
work  he  had  published. 

The  Bishop  of  Oxford  to  the  Bishop  of  Natal. 

August  8,  1862. 

My  dear  Bishop, — I  hear  that  you  have  reached  London, 
and  I  am  anxious  at  once  to  communicate  with  you,  and 
fii'st  I  want  to  express  to  you  the  unabated  continuance  of  my 
affection  to  you,  let  our  differences  of  opinion  turn  out  to  be 
what  they  may,  and  then,  next,  as  to  those  differences.  I 
know,  I  believe,  all  the  generous  heat  of  your  noble  nature, 
and  I  firmly  believe  that  what  you  have  viewed  as  tinjitst 
opposition  to  those  whom  you  love  and  admire  has  driven 
}ou  on  to  points  which,  but  for  such  gales  of  feeling,  you 
would  never  have  reached.     I  have  read  over  and  over  aeain 

o 

your  exposition  to  the  Romans  and  I  must  say  to  you 
that  I  think  you  contradict  yourself  in  it  over  and  over 
again,  that  there  are  statements  in  it,  numerous,  explicit, 
and  manifestly  from  your  heart  of  hearts,  which  are  incom- 
patible with  any  but  the  really  orthodox  view,  as  we  both 
should  of  old  have  understood  that  word,  and  yet  there  are 
in  it  passages  which  seem  to  me  quite  incompatible  with  what 
from  the  beginning  has  been  the  unbroken  tradition  of  the 
Church's  teaching.  Over  these  I  should  greatly  like  calmly 
and  prayerfully  to  talk  with  you,  if  you  will  let  me.  They 
are  too  large  for  writing.  But  what  I  mainly  write  for  now  \i 
to  pray  you  not  to  take  any  irretrievable  step  until  you  have, 
in  free  discourse  with  some  of  us,  reviewed  the  whole  matter. 
I  hope  you  will  not  think  this  too  much  for  me  to  ask.  I 
long  so  to  have  you  with  us.  I  so  dread  the  evil  conse- 
quences to  our  Church  of  a  dissension  on  these  matters  in 
which  you  arc  to  take  a  leading  part.  Surely  the  separation 
of  Colonial  life  and  the  autocracy  of  a  Colonial  Bishop's 
position  cannot  be,  with  any  gifts  of  intellect,  the  most 
favourable  position  for  the  discovery  of  religious  truth.  And 
if  this  be  so,  it  must  be  a  duty  to  review  all  conclusions  so 
reached  with  others,  if  you  have  the  opportunity,  before  you 
irrevocably  adopt  them  and  run  the  risk  of  advocating  error, 


1 1 8  LIFE  OF  BISHOP   WILBERFORCE.         chap.  iv. 

of  clouding  truth,  or  of  risking  the  usefuhiess  of  a  life.  You 
perhaps  know  that  we  Bishops  did  generally  consult  on  your 
commentary  and,  though  in  different  measures,  yet  all 
lamented  much  that  we  found  in  it.  I  am  sure  you  would 
not  deny  that  such  a  consensus  of  your  brethren,  though  it 
would  not,  of  course,  stand  in  the  stead  of  one  of  your  own 
conclusions,  yet  ought  to  be  a  ground  for  carefully,  and  with 
consultation  of  others,  revising  them  thoroughly.  All  I  would 
entreat,  for  love's  sake,  is  that  you  rest  in  quietness  until  you 
have  given  us  some  such  opportunity  of  free  brotherly  con- 
verse. I  am  going  into  Wales  for  a  fortnight  ;  but  the  first 
week  in  September,  please  God,  I  am  to  be  at  Lavington,  near 
Petworth  ;  and  if  you  could  come  to  me  there  to  give  a  day  or 
two  to  such  a  consultation,  you  would  find  a  warm  greeting 
and,  I  hope,  a  loving  and  unprejudiced  discussion  of  differences. 
I  have  vividly  before  me  the  'lines  you  wrote  in  my  little 
visitor's  book,  when  you  left  Cuddesdon.**  I  have  always  felt 
the  liveliest  interest  in  your  course,  and  I  would  fain,  believe 
me,  only  do  everything  which  in  me  lies,  to  keep  in  truth  and 
usefulness  one  very  dear  to  my  heart,  and  gifted  by  God  with 
most  unusual  powers  of  serving  Him.  I  pray  you  to  believe 
me  to  be  your  affectionate  brother,  e   q^^,^ 

In  declining  this  invitation.  Bishop  Colenso  said 
that  though  he  did  not  object  to  meeting  any  Bishop 
singly  and  discussing  the  book  yet  he  did  not  see  that 
anything  was  to  be  gained  by  such  a  meeting,  as  the 
opinions  he  had  expressed  had  been  long  held  by  him, 

^  '  In  memory  of  words  spoken  in  Cornwall,  fourteen  years  ago,  which  first 
awakened  in  the  writer's  soul  a  lively  concern  for  the  spiritual  distresses  of  our 
colonies  ;  and  of  the  solemn  charge  delivered  by  the  same  lips,  in  the  name  of 
Christ  and  His  Church,  at  Lambeth,  on  November  30,  1853. 

'  The  raw  recruit  of  1839  must  now  go  forth  into  the  field  of  battle,  which  he 
does  with  a  deep  sense  of  his  own  weakness,  and  knowing  that  "  he  who  is  but 
girding  on  his  armour  may  not  boast  as  he  who  putteth  it  off."  But  the  voice 
which  first  called  still  cheers  him  on  to  the  work  ;  and  in  a  far-off  land,  the 
words  of  St.  Andrew's  Day  will  be  ringing  in  his  ears — rather,  will  be  treasured  in 
his  heart — for  strength  and  comfort  in  the  midst  of  the  conflict. 

'J.  W.  Natal. 
'  Cuddesdon  Palace,  Dec.  5,  1S53.' 


1 861-6.  A    'PAINFUL  MEETING:  II9 

and  had  *  grown  with  his  growth.*  On  February  6, 
1863,  the  Bishops  held  a  private  meeting,  at  which  the 
Archbishops  of  Canterbury,  York,  and  Armagh  and 
twenty-six  Bishops,  were  present.  Meanwhile  the 
case  of  heresy  against  Bishop  Colenso  had  assumed 
a  more  serious  aspect  owing  to  the  publication  of 
Parts  I  and  2  of  '  The  Pentateuch  Critically  Ex- 
amined,' in  the  second  of  which  books  the  inspiration 
of  the  Old  Testament  was  denied  and  a  bold  declara- 
tion made  that  the  books  of  Samuel  and  Jeremiah 
were  forgeries.  At  this  meeting  Bishop  Wilberforce 
proposed  the  following  resolution  :  '  That  we  agree, 
after  common  counsel,  under  a  great  scandal,  to  inhibit. 
We  would  not  assume  the  Bishop's  guilt,  as  he  has 
not  yet  been  tried,  nor  make  a  charge  against  him, 
but  assert  that  there  was  a  great  and  notorious 
scandal.'  After  a  very  long  discussion  this  resolution 
was  carried  by  twenty- five  votes  to  four.  On  the  nth 
another  meeting  took  place  on  the  question  of  an 
address  to  Bishop  Colenso.  This  meeting  is*  cha- 
racterised by  the  Bishop  as  'painful  meeting.'  The 
discussion  waxed  so  warm  that  the  venerable  Bishop 
of  St.  Asaph  rose  and  asked  the  Archbishop  to  say 
prayers.     The  Bishop's  diary  has  this  record  : — ■ 

February  6. — Bishop  of  Capetown  ;  breakfasted.  Then 
to  meeting  of  Bishops.  Archbishop  of  York's  plan  about 
Colenso.  Bishop  of  London's  passion,  and  York's.  Hours  of 
painful  discussion. 

Bishop  Gray,  describing  this  meeting,  says  the 
Bishop  of  Oxford  *  burst  forth  into  one  of  the  most  elo- 
quent speeches  I  ever  heard  from  him  which  was  all  the 
more  remarkable  from  its  being  addressed,  not  to  a 
popular  assembly,  but  to  thirty  grave  Bishops  met 
together  to  consider  a  matter  of  the  deepest  moment 
to    the   Church.'      The    meeting    separated   without 


120  LIFE   OF  BISHOP   WILBERFORCE.  chap.  iv. 

agreeing  as  to  the  form  that  should  be  used,  and 
appointed  a  committee,  of  which  Bishop  Wllberforce 
was  a  member,  to  draw  up  a  letter.  The  Bishop's 
private  diary  shows  that  his  hand  drew  the  address, 
which  was  signed  by  forty-one  Bishops,  the  only  one 
who  did  not  sign  being  the  Bishop  of  St.  David's. 
The  address  called  upon  Bishop  Colenso  to  resign 
his  bishopric,  a  step  which  he  did  not  take. 

An  anecdote  told  by  a  distinguished  member  of  the 
Lower  House  of  Convocation  bears  upon  another  of 
these  meetings.     He  says  : — 

I  was  going,  as  one  of  the  Assessors  with  Prolocutor, 
to  the  Upper  House  and  stopped  a  moment  at  the  door  of 
the  Bounty  Board  Office  to  have  a  word  with  my  old  friend 
in  attendance  there.  '  Very  hot,  old  friend,'  was  what  I  said. 
(It  was  one  of  the  hottest  of  summer  days.)  'Uncommon 
hot.  Sir,  outside,  and  uncommon  hot  inside.  Cannot  remember 
any  day  so  hot  as  to-day  inside.'  There  was  no  mistaking 
about  the  heated  points. 

The  following  story  Illustrates  a  noticeable  point  In 
Bishop  Wllberforce's  character,  namely  that  however 
mucli  on  public  points  he  was  compelled  to  differ,  yet 
such  divergence  of  opinion  did  not  Interfere  with  personal 
reeard.  At  a  similar  meetino-  to  the  one  described 
above,  the  Bishop  and  the  Bishop  of  London  had 
taken  strongly  opposite  lines.  The  discussion  had  been 
indeed  hot,  but  when  It  was  over,  the  Bishop  threw  a 
note  across  the  table  to  the  Bishop  of  London,  who 
naturally  thought  that  the  note  must  have  some 
bearing  on  the  late  difference  between  them  and  pro- 
bably contained  some  explanation.  It  was  something 
to  this  effect,  '  You  really  should  not  wear  such  boots, 
they  are  not  safe  ;  you  ought  to  get  such  and  such 
boots,  as  your  health  Is  too  precious  to  be  endangered 
by  neglecting  ordinary  precautions.' 


1 86 1 -6.  DR.    CO  LENS  O   CONDEMNED.  121 

The  diary  for  the  next  day  is  as  follows  : — 

February  7. — Morning,  wrote  till  10.  Grillion's  to  break- 
fast. A  great  deal  of  talk  with  Roundell  Palmer  on  Bishop 
of  Capetown's  case/  coming  on  on  Monday.  Likely,  before 
a  hostile  Court,  to  go  off  on  an  accidental  point.  Then  sat 
with  Bishop  of  Exeter,  who  as  shrewd  as  ever.  Then  Mada- 
gascar Committee,  where  Bishop  of  London,  very  absent,  all 
friendly ;  and  two  fundamental  resolutions  carried,  in  spite  of 
a  growl  from  Bishop  of  Lincoln,  unanimously.  Then  Com- 
mittee on  Colenso,  promising  rather.  Then  walk  with  the 
Archbishop  (Canterbury),  his  simple  unambitious  nature 
beautiful.  Then  dine  with  Lord  Chancellor,  American  and 
Danish  Ministers,  &c,,  &c.  The  Lord  Chancellor  very 
pleasant. 

In  April,  Bishop  Gray  returned  to  Capetown,  and 
in  November  the  trial  of  Bishop  Colenso  was  begun, 
and  on  December  14  it  ended.  Bishop  Gray  condemn- 
ing him  to  deprivation.  That  Bishop  Gray  had  long 
before  made  up  his  mind,  not  only  as  to  the  issue  of 
the  trial  but  also  the  sentence,  appears  by  extracts 
from  two  of  his  letters  to  the  Bishop  of  Oxford  : — 

August  19,  I  ^62,. — If  secular  courts  interfere  with  me  in  the 
exercise  of  the  purely  spiritual  function  of  trying  a  suffragan 
for  heresy,  I  will  not  yield  to  that  interference.  I  shall  say 
nothing  of  the  emoluments,  but  probably  deprive  him  of  his 
spiritual  office  and  declare  his  see  vacant.  If  a  secular  Court 
affects  to  restore  him,  and  he  resumes  the  exercise  of  a  spiritual 
office,  I  will  excommunicate, 

September  2,  1863. — ^I  do  not  think-  that  if  I  were  in  the 
position  of  my  dear  brother,  the  Bishop  of  Salisbury,  I  could 
refrain  from  excommunication.^  I  am  more  than  ever  deter- 
mined about  my  line  with  Colenso. 

The  Bishop  of  Capetown  then  repeats  what  has 
been  already  quoted,    and    goes   on    to   say   that   he 

will — 

^  Long  v.  the  Bishop  of  Capetown, 

*  Referring  to  the  Judgment  on  Essays  and  Kcn'civs. 


122  LIFE   OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.  chap.  iv. 

Excommunicate  if  he  treats  the  sentence  as  a  nulHty. 
Then,  if  the  clergy  in  Natal  will  work  with  me,  we  will  elect 
and  consecrate  here  if  the  Church  at  home  will  not  send  out 
another.  I  believe  it  will  come  to  this,  and  I  therefore 
contemplate  it  now. 

So  much  did  Bishop  Gray  contemplate  It  that 
when  he  forwarded  to  Bishop  Wilberforce  a  report  of 
the  proceedings  and  the  sentence  of  December  14 
he  sent  with  them  a  draft  form  of  excommunication 
to  be  revised,  so  that  it  might  be  ready.  On  March 
14,  Bishop  Gray  wrote  again  to  Bishop  Wilberforce, 
asking  him  to  look  out  for  a  man  to  fill  the  see,  and  to 
get  the  Archbishop's  private  approbation,  concluding 
his  letter  with  the  significant  request,  '  Pray  do  not 
forget  the  form  of  excommunication  I  sent  in  my 
December  letter.'  Bishop  Wilberforce  was  most 
anxious  that,  until  Bishop  Colenso's  petition  had  been 
heard,  no  step  should  be  taken.  Writing  on  May  3, 
1864,  to  Bishop  Gray,  he  says  : — ■ 

I  should  strongly  urge  you  to  xvait  both  as  to  the  excom- 
munication and  as  to  the  filling  up  of  the  see.  If  Colenso 
returns  to  Natal  and  attempts  contumaciously  to  exercise  his 
ministry,  I  would  at  once  proceed  to  the  excommunication,  but 
I  would  not  otherwise  do  so.  Nothing  could  do  more  harm 
than  that  you  should  seem  either  to  persecute  him  or  to  act 
with  precipitation.  At  the  right  time  the  Archbishop  is  quite 
ready  to  give  you  any  suggestions  or  encouragements,  but  he 
feels  that  the  time  has  not  yet  come. 

This  letter  had  the  desired  effect  of  preventing 
Bishop  Gray  from  acting  before  the  case  was  decided. 
It  did  not,  however,  convince  him,  as  he  wrote  to 
Bishop  Wilberforce  again  in  September,  when,  after 
saying  that  '  he  had  lost  all  faith  in  the  fair  dealing  of 
lawyers  in  cases  which  relate  to  spiritual  matters,'  he 
again  pressed  the  Bishop  to  send  out  a  man  to  be  con- 


1 86 1 -6.  BISHOP  GRAY'S  PROTEST.  I  23 

secrated.  Bishop  Gray's  determination  to  excommu- 
nicate Bishop  Colenso  and  to  consecrate  a  new  bishop, 
even  without  the  assent  of  the  English  episcopate,  very 
greatly  increased  the  difficulties  of  the  position  both 
for  himself  and  for  those  who  were  working  with  him. 
These  difficulties  were  further  aggravated  by  Bishop 
Gray's  refusal  to  appear  before  the  Privy  Council  on 
Bishop  Colenso's  petition. °  Bishop  Gray's  opinions  on 
secular  Courts  have  been  given  above.  A  reference 
to  his  biography  enlarges  these  opinions.  '  I  think  the 
prelates  and  statesmen  are  all  too  theoretic  about  con- 
stitutions and  self-government  in  the  Colonies,  and  I 
find  I  differ  more  with  them  than  others.'  ^  Bishop 
Gray  was  persuaded  to  draw  up  a  protest,  and  on 
this  point  Bishop  Wilberforce  writes,  on  October  4, 
1863:— 

I  think  it  may  be  well  that  you  should  draw  up  the 
protest  you  speak  of,  and  lodge  it  privately  with  us  for  future 
use.  There  is  so  intense  a  feeling  for  la%v  in  England  that  I 
am  most  anxious  not  to  give  notice,  as  it  were,  of  contradicting 
it  before  the  time. 

The  protest,  when  it  arrived  in  England,  was 
found  to  be  useless,  and  thus  the  responsibility  of 
acting  for  Bishop  Gray  was  thrown  on  Bishop  Wilber- 
force. There  was  no  time  to  write  and  get  an  answer, 
as  the  case  was  fixed  for  December  14.  The  Bishop 
then  wrote  as  follows  : — 

"  Bishop  Colenso  did  not  appeal  against  the  sentence  of  deprivation  passed 
upon  him  at  Capetown,  but  he  presenteJ  a  petition  to  the  Crown,  asking  that  he 
be  entitled  to  hold  his  see  until  the  letters  patent  granted  to  him  should  have 
been  cancelled  by  due  process  of  law,  and  also  to  declare  that  the  letters  patent 
granted  to  the  Bishop  of  Capetown  did  not  entitle  that  Bishop  to  claim  any  juris- 
diction over  him,  and  further  that  the  sentence  already  passed  should  be  declared 
null  and  void. 

'  Life  of  Bishop  Gray,  vol.  i.  p.  362. 


124  ^^^^^   OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.         chap.  iv. 

The  BisJiop  of  Oxfoi^d  to  the  Bishop  of  Capetown. 

London,  December  7,  1S64. 

My  dearest  Bishop, — I  have  had  most  anxious  discussions 
with  your  brother,  Sir  R.  Phillimore,^  and  the  Archbishop,  and 
it  is  not  without  great  anxiety  that  I  have  come  to  the  con- 
clusion I  have  reached  in  advising  your  brother  as  I  have  done. 
No  such  protest  as  you  sent  could  by  any  legal  means  be 
served  on  the  Court.  This  was  most  distinctly  asserted.  How, 
then,  could  I  carry  out  the  spirit  of  your  charge  "i  It  appeared 
only  by  instructing  counsel,  under  a  protest  that  you  did  not 
admit  the  authority  of  the  Court,  to  appear  and  watch  the 
proceedings  of  the  Court,  so  as  to  prevent  its  claiming  through 
ignorance  a  jurisdiction  it  does  not  by  law  possess.  This 
course  and  this  only,  as  far  as  I  can  learn,  enables  you 
solemnly  to  protest  against  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Court. 
This  is  the  respectful  course  to  the  Queen,  whose  Court  it  is, 
and  whose  letters  patent  you  hold.  This  is  the  mode  most 
likely  to  obtain  from  the  Court  the  disavowal  of  jurisdiction, 
which  we  desire,  and  this  enables  you  at  any  time,  should 
the  Court  usurp  jurisdiction,  to  retire  on  the  ground  you 
would  have  occupied  at  first,  of  not  allowing  it  to  have  any 
jurisdiction  at  all.  The  Archbishop  is  strong  for  this  course. 
I  pray  God  that  it  may  so  turn  out  that  there  may  be  nothing 
of  which  you  will  have  good  cause  to  repent.  ...  I  am  ever 
your  very  heartily  affectionate,  o   Ovnv 

Sir  Robert  Phillimore,  who,  \vith  Sir  Hugh  Cairns, 
was  retained  for  Bishop  Gray,  thus  expresses  himself 
on  Bishop  Gray's  protest :  '  I  cannot  think  that  Cape- 
town is  right  in  refusing  to  appear  under  protest  to 
the  jurisdiction,  either  w-ith  respect  to  himself  or  to 
the  Colonial  Church  generally.* 

On  receipt  of  Bishop  Wilberforce's  letter,  Bishop 
Gray  wrote  hurriedly  to  the  Archbishop,  declaring  that 
the  *  appearance  put  in  for  him  was  contrary  to  his 

*  Queen's  Advocate. 


1 86 1 -6.  LORD    WESTBURY'S  JUDGMENT.  I  25 

instructions.'  This  letter  was  sent  to  his  brother, 
with  instructions  to  pubHsh  it.  Wliether  or  not  it  was 
ever  sent  to  the  Archbishop  does  not  appear  ;  but 
whether  sent  or  not,  it  was  never  pubhshed.  Bishop 
Gray  speedily  changed  his  mind  with  regard  to  it,  as,  ten 
days  after  writing  the  letter,  he  wrote  to  his  brother,  say- 
ing that  after  a  conversation  with  a  Judge  at  the  Cape, 
he  was  of  opinion  that  his  '  protest  saved  his  position 
both  morally  and  legally,'  and  later  on  in  May  he 
wrote  to  his  brother  again,  saying  that  he  felt  thankful 
to  him  and  to  the  Bishop  of  Oxford  for  acting  as  they 
thought  for  the  best.^ 

On  March  20,  the  judgment  was  delivered  in 
favour  of  Bishop  Colenso,  saying  that  he  was  not 
deposed  under  the  authority  of  the  letters  patent, 
because  the  Crown  had  no  power  to  grant  a  patent 
giving  any  authority  to  one  bishop  as  metropolitan. 
A  letter  written  a  few  days  after  the  decision  gives  the 
Bishop's  opinion  on  this  judgment: — 

The  Bishop  of  Oxford  to  the  Bishop  of  Capctoiun. 

Great  Brickhill,  March  24,  1S65. 
My  dear  Bishop, — Westbury's  judgment  is  just  out.  I  have 
not  had  time  thoroughly  to  consider  it  or  to  see  any  lawyer  on  it. 
I  am  disposed  to  agree  with  the  former  parts  of  the  judgment 
— Jurisdiction,  i.e.  all  external  power,  is  not  of  the  Apostles — 
must  be  of  the  Christian  State  and  cannot  be  granted  except 
by  the  Christian  State — and  that  the  Church  in  Africa  is  only 
capable  of  holding  jurisdiction  when  given  by  the  State  there. 
But  all  this,  the  establishment  of  which  may  be  God's  way  of 
setting  the  Colonial  Church  free,  seems  to  me  absolutely  and 
altogether  incompatible  with  pronouncing  in  any  sense  which 
is  not  a  Westbury  lie  your  proceedings  null  and  void.  It  can 
only  really  mean  that  the  law  does  not  contemplate  these 

'  Liji  of  Rohcrl  Gray,  Bishop  of  Cajietown,  vol.  ii.  pp.    182,  1S3,  187,  and 
207. 


126  LIFE   OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.         chap.  iv. 

acts  at  all,  they  being  the  acts  of  a  voluntary  society,  not  that 
the  law  sets  them  aside.  I  go  to  London  on  Monday,  and 
will  see  the  Archbishop  and  Phillimore,  your  brother,  &c. 
It  would  be  better  if  you  came  home  on  the  Archbishop's 
invitation  than    without.      I    am    always   your   most    loving 

f^'^"^'  ^  S.  OXON. 

The  next  day  the  Bishop  writes  to  Lord  Richard 
Cavendish  on  this  matter :  '  I  think  Westbury's  judg- 
ment on  Colenso,  bristling  with  Erastian  Insults  to  the 
Church  as   It  purposely  is,   is  yet  the  charter  of  the 
freedom   of  the  Colonial   Church,   so   Is    the   modern 
Achltophel  overruled.'     On  Sunday,  January  5,  1866, 
Bishop  Gray  formally  excommunicated  Bishop  Colenso. 
Bishop  Wllberforce  endeavoured  to  dissuade  him  from 
taking   this  step.      It  will  be  remembered,    however, 
that  on  May  3,    1864,    Bishop   Wllberforce  said:   'If 
Colenso  returns  to  Natal  and  attempts  contumaciously 
to  exercise  his  ministry,  I  would  excommunicate  him.' 
This  was  written  before  the  judgment  was  delivered, 
and  at  a  time  when  the  Bishop  believed  that  the  Privy 
Council  would  refuse  to  hear  Bishop  Colenso's  appeal, 
and  that  Bishop  Gray's  letters  patent  did  confer  upon 
him   supreme  temporal    control    over   the   Church   In 
South  Africa.      The  judgment  of  the   Privy  Council 
had  on  these  points  convinced  Bishop  Wllberforce  that 
he  was    wrong,   and    he  saw  the   complications   that 
might  arise  If  such  a  sentence  were  pronounced.     An 
extract  from  a  letter  to  his  son  Ernest,  written  in  1868, 
more  clearly  demonstrates  the  Bishop's  view  as  to  the 
legality  of  the  deposition  : — 

/  have  no  doubt  of  the  canonicity  of  the  deposition,  and 
have  said  that  I  accept  it  as  spiritually  valid  ;  the  awkwardness 
is  that  it  is  not  legally  so,  through  having  been  pronounced  by 
no  Court  known  to  the  law  of  England, 


i86i-6.  ADVICE   TO  BISHOP   GRAY.  12/ 

Bishop  Colenso  might  resign  his  see,  as  have  so 
many  Colonial  bishops  ;  he  then  might  be  appointed  to 
a  living  in  England,  where  the  Church  recognised  the 
State  laws  as  well  as  the  spiritual  authority  of  the 
Bishop  of  Capetown  ;  how  then  could  a  bishop  in  Eng- 
land refuse  to  institute  ?  Besides,  Bishop  Wilberforce 
knew  that  the  Bishops  of  the  Church  in  England  would 
not  join  as  a  body  in  ratifying  a  sentence  of  excom- 
munication on  Bishop  Colenso.  For  other  reasons 
his  maturer  judgment  was  at  variance  with  his  first 
opinion,  already  quoted.  On  April  3,  1865,  he  thus 
Vv-rites  to  Bishop  Gray  : — 

I  have,  as  you  know,  been  always  rather  holding  you 
back.  But  it  seems  to  me  now  that  the  time  has  come  for 
you  to  act,  and  for  us  at  home  to  be  ready  to  support  your 
action.  Our  dear  Archbishop  is  true  and  fast  as  ever,  but  it 
hardly  becomes  the  height  of  that  seat  to  whisper  counsel, 
so  I  venture  to  do  it.  I  think  that  the  first  point  is  to  fill  the 
episcopal  seat  at  Natal  with  a  true  man.  I  should  advise 
you  to  get  the  laity  and  clergy  to  meet  and  elect  a  Bishop — 
I  vvould  have  you  suggest  the  man  ;  I  think  it  should  be  one 
out  there.  Then  I  would  have  a  trust  deed  carefully  drawn, 
which  he  and  those  who  would  should  sign,  declaring  himself 
Bishop  of  the  South  African  Church  in  full  communion  with 
us.  I  would  have  him  take  his  office  on  condition  of  being 
willing  to  carry  out  all  the  resolutions,  canons,  &c.,  diocesan 
and  provincial,  of  your  own  body,  and  one  of  them  should  be, 
to  submit  himself  to  your  judgment,  &c.,  when  need  was,  in 
camera,  as  completely  and  in  the  same  degree  as  he  would  be 
bound  to  do  if  you  had  legal  jurisdiction  as  metropolitan."*  It 
seems  to  me  clear  that,  in  the  present  state  of  matters,  action 
must  come  from  you,  and  this  seems  to  me  your  mode  of 
acting,  and  in  this,  I  trust,  we  should  from  home  effectually 

*  The  course  here  recommended  liy  the  Bishop  was  ahnost  similar  to  what 
had  been  already  done  in  the  case  of  Bishop  Tozer,  W'ho  succeeded  Bishop  ]\Iac- 
kenzie — he,  Bishop  Tozer,  took  the  oath  of  canonical  obedience  to  the  Bishop  of 
Capetown  instead  of  to  the  Archl)ish(ip  of  Canterbury. 


1 28  LIFE   OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.         chap.  iv. 

support  you,   acknowledging    your  new    Bishop  and  utterly 
disallowing  the  traitor. 

But  suppose  he  comes  out.  I  venture,  after  much  thought, 
to  say  do  not  excommunicate  him.  Excommunication  seems 
to  me  a  dangerous,  awkward,  and,  upon  the  whole,  an  in- 
efficient weapon.  I  think  nothing  but  difficulty  and  entangle- 
ment ever  came  from  excommunicating  the  anti-popes.  As 
long  as  they  had  a  following,  their  believers  disregarded  it ; 
and  when  the  schism  healed,  it  was  an  awkward  fact  to  have 
to  deal  with.  I  do  not  remember  that  any  of  the  excom- 
munications were  formally  taken  off,  and  yet,  on  the  other 
hand,  none,  I  think,  were  maintained  in  the  long  run.  My 
advice,  therefore,  would  be — ignore  him  ;  inhibit  him  from 
doing  any  act ;  get  clergy  and  laity  to  stick  by  you  in  reject- 
ing him,  but  do  not  excommunicate.  It  would,  I  think,  Jiere 
tend  to  turn  the  tide  again  in  his  favour. 

Mr.  Keble  was  also  consulted  by  Bishop  Gray 
before  the  final  step  was  taken,  and  he  thus  writes  to 
Bishop  Wilberforce,  with  whom  he  had  been  in  corre- 
spondence on  the  advice  he  should  give  : — 

I  dare  say  that  you  and  others  are  right  in  discouraging 
the  resolution  to  excommunicate  in  this  case,  but  it  is  a  most 
sorrowful  and  heartbreaking  reason  which  makes  me  think  so, 
viz.,  that  nobody  now — at  least,  no  Anglican — with  very  few 
exceptions,  really  believes  in  excommunication ;  and  so  it 
would  be  disregarded,  and  prove  a  world-wide  scandal.  But 
I  have  suggested  to  the  Bishop  that,  in  acting  on  your 
advice,  which  is  quite  (as  you  know)  what  I  could  wish,  he 
should  get  his  people  to  claim,  and  you  and  the  Church  at 
home  to  recognise,  that,  as  Metropolitan,  he,  with  his  suf- 
fragans, may  freely  exercise  the  power  inherent  in  them  of 
■censuring  and,  if  need  be,  excommunicating  any  heretic, 
bishop  or  other,  who  may  be  canonically  convicted  of  dis- 
turbing the  flock  within  his  province  ;  also,  I  would  have  all 
•that  is  done  in  this  crisis  formally  communicated  to  all  the 
Sees  in  communion  with  the  Church  of  England,  and,  if  it 
may  be,  recognised  by  them. 


1 861-6.  THE  CORRESPONDENCE  ENDED.  129 

Beyond  a  correspondence  with  Bishop  Gray  re- 
specting an  episcopal  successor  to  Bishop  Colenso, 
Bishop  Wilberforce  had  no  more  to  do  with  the  matter, 
until  the  Pan-Anglican  Synod,  when  Bishop  Gray  again 
brought  the  question  forward. 


VOL.  III.  K 


I  ^o  LIFE   OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.  chap.  V. 


CHAPTER   V. 

(1S64.) 

JOURNAL  OF  AN  AMERICAN  CLERGYMAN — BAMPTON  MISSION — CONTINENTAL 
CONFIRMATIONS — VISIT  TO  SANDRINGHAM — FALL  FROM  HORSE — DEBATE 
ON  '  ESSAYS  AND  REVIEWS  ' — THE  BISHOP  AND  THE  LORD  CHANCELLOR — 
OPINIONS  OF  LORDS  DERBY,  CHELMSFORD,  AND  BISHOP  OF  EXETER — 'THE 
LONDON  WE  LIVE  IN' — DIARY  IN  WALES — VERBAL  INSPIRATION — SPEECH 
AT  HASTINGS — SPEECH  AT  OXFORD  — CLERGYMEN  SHOULD  BE  GENTLEMEN 
— LETTER    TO   MR.    GORDON. 

The  following  extract  is  taken  from  the  published 
Journal  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Murray — Rector  of  Niagara, 
then  on  a  mission  to  England  on  behalf  of  the  Uni- 
versity of  Trinity  College,  Toronto  : — 

February  13. — Attended  Divine  Service  in  the  private 
Chapel  of  the  Palace  at  Cuddesdon,  and  was  invited  by  the 
Bishop  to  assist  his  Chaplains.  After  Morning  Prayers  the 
Bishop  addressed  the  Candidates  for  Ordination  in  the  most 
touching  manner,  and  laid  before  them  most  affectionately 
and  faithfully  the  weighty  responsibilities  of  the  Ministerial 
Office,  and  the  danger  of  entering  upon  it  without  proper 
feelings.  Altogether  it  was  the  most  solemn  address  I  ever 
listened  to,  and  so  deeply  affecting  that  most  of  the  Candidates 
were  in  tears  during  its  delivery ;  indeed  I  shed  tears  my- 
self 

On  May  24  Dr.  Murray  was  again  the  Bishop's 
guest,  the  occasion  was  the  annual  festival  of  Cuddes- 
don College. 

The  Bishop's  guests  attended  Divine  Service  in  the  Parish 
Church  at  8  A.M.,  and  were  also  present  at  the  Celebration  of 
the  Holy  Communion.     After  the  second  service  at  11,  the 


1 864.  THE  BAMPTON  MISSION.  I3I 

Rev.  J.  Keble  preached  a  very  able  and  well-timed  sermon 
from  the  text :  |  And  fear  came  upon  every  soul'  The  service 
being  ended,  all  repaired  to  the  lawn,  where  was  an  immense 
tent,  in  which  the  Bishop's  guests,  the  graduates  and  under- 
graduates of  Cuddesdon,  were  to  dine.  About  2  50  sat  down; 
and  after  partaking  of  the  good  things  which  were  provided  in 
great  profusion,  his  Lordship  proposed  several  toasts  and 
among  others  the  Colonial  Church,  coupling  with  it  the  name 
of  the  Bishop  of  Toronto,  which  produced  deafening  cheers 
from  one  end  of  the  tent  to  the  other, 

I  was  called  upon  to  respond,  and  in  my  remarks  gave  a 
brief  account  of  Trinity  College,  its  importance  to  the  general 
welfare  of  the  Church  in  Canada,  and  explained  in  general 
terms  the  object  of  my  visit  to  the  Church  in  the  mother 
country.  This  afforded  me  a  good  opportunity  of  making  my 
mission  known,  and  I  was  but  too  thankful  to  embrace  it  and 
grateful  to  our  staunch  friend  the  Bishop  for  the  occasion. 

The  Bishop  of  Oxford  to  R.  G.  Wilberforce} 

London,  February  18,  1864. 

It  is  with  me  the  busiest  time  in  the  year.  Convocation 
sitting,  breakfast  of  the  members :  committees  after.  Then 
House  of  Lords,  then  dinner,  and  to  bed.  I  have  enjoyed 
having  E.  and  F.  with  me  exceedingly,  and  often  refreshed 
myself  with  them  for  half  an  hour  before  dinner,  and  they 
have  breakfasted  with  me.  .  .  . 

{Guardian,  March  2.)  The  Bishop  held  his  Lenten  Ordi- 
nation in  the  Parish  Church  of  Bampton  on  February  21, 
preceded  by  a  week  of  special  services.  The  head-quarters  of 
the  mission  was  at  Bampton  Vicarage.  Special  services  were 
held,  and  sermons  preached,  in  twenty-seven  churches  of  the 
neighbourhood,  besides  those  held  in  Bampton  Church  itself. 
Thirty-eight  clergymen,  besides  the  Bishop  and  the  clergy  of 
Bampton  and  its  neighbourhood,  took  part  in  the  mission. 
The  Bishop  held  seven  confirmations  ;  he  preached  thrice  on 
the  first  Sunday,  besides  closing  the  Mission  with  an  evening 

'  During  the  years  1S64,  1S65,  and  1S66,  the  writer  of  these  pages  was   in 
India, 

K  2 


132 


LIFE   OF  BISHOP    WILBEKFORCE.  chap,  v. 


sermon  of  surpassing  power  on  the  Ordination  day,  and  preach- 
ing; several  other  sermons  and  addresses  in  the  course  of  the 
week.  Altogether  about  Ii8  sermons  and  addresses  were 
delivered  during  the  period. 

The  subjoined  is  a  list  of  the  subjects  discussed  at  the 
morning  conferences  of  the  assembled  clergy  : — 

Monday. — How  to  secure  Permanent  Results  from  the 
work  of  the  Mission. 

Tuesday. — How  to  promote  amongst  our  people  a  more 
intelligent  apprehension  of  the  Privileges  and  Duties  of  Church 
Membership. 

Wednesday. — Of  the  Visitation  of  the  sick  in  cases  of 
protracted  illness,  and  of  the  use  of  the  Visitation  Office. 

Thursday. — How  the  Clergy  may  be  brought  into  more 
direct  spiritual  relationship  with  certain  classes  of  parishioners: 
viz.,  I.  Domestic  Servants;  2.  Labouring  Men;  Shop  assistants  : 
3.  Farm  Boys. 

Friday. — What  are  the  Chief  Hindrances  to  the  work  of 
the  Church  in  this  district,  and  how  the  Clergy  and  Laity  may 
best  co-operate  to  meet  them. 

SaUirday. — The  need  and  practicability  of  a  more  syste- 
matic study  of  Theology  amongst  the  Parochial  Clergy. 

The  Bishop's  custom  with  regard  to  saying  the 
general  Absolution  at  Morning  and  Evening  Prayer, 
both  in  and  out  of  his  diocese  appears  in  this  letter  to 
the  Archbishop  of  Dublin  : — 

London,  February  3,  1864. 
My  dearest  Archbishop, — L  My  custom  is  to  read  the 
Absolution  when  I  am  in  my  own  diocese,  unless  there  be 
some  reason  to  the  contrary  ;  out  of  my  diocese  I  read  it 
when  the  officiating  clergyman  asks  me  to  do  so.  H.  I  do  not 
know  the  custom  of  other  Bishops  on  the  matter.  HL  I  ground 
my  doing  it  on  the  rubric  which  orders  it  at  the  highest  Eucha- 
ristic  service.  I  think  this  shows  that  it  is  the  mind  of  the 
Church  that  the  Bishop  when  present  should  do  so,  though 
she  does  not  burden  her  Bishops  with  an  order  io  do  so,  except 
in  the  highest  office.  You  will  observe  that  two  things  are  so 
ordered,     i.  His  pronouncing  the  Absolution.     2.  His  pro- 


1864.  CHECK  END  ON.  T33 

nouncing  the  Blessing.     Now  universal  experience  has  acted 

as  to  the   second  order,  on  the  principle  I  apply  to  both,  the 

language  being  the  same  as  to  both  ;  and  this  seems  to  me, 

therefore,   to  be  really  acting  on   the  mind   of  the  Church. 

IV.  Practically   I    believe    the    effect    of  thus    allowing    the 

Bishop  to  take  a  fixed  part  in  the  office  is  excellent.    V.  I  never 

knew  it  to  be  objected  to  by  any  Low  Churchman.     I  am 

ever  affectionately  yours,  e   r\  -r.  r 

o.  UXOjS.     . 

MarcJi  5. —  Off  after  breakfast  for  Ardley.  Old  Lowe 
hearty  and  good  as  ever.  The  little  Church  quite  pretty 
now.  Much  interested  in  the  Confirmation.  On  to  Fringford, 
also  nice.  Walked  in  north-east  mist  part  of  the  way.  Mix- 
bury.  The  Strattons,  and  Percy  Barrington  dine.  Roundell 
Palmers  here.  His  daughter  to  be  confirmed  to-morrow.  A 
little  talk  with  Roundell  about  the  judgment.-  He  seemed  to 
think  that  the  internal  life  of  the  Church  was  injured  by  the 
secular  arm  not  allowing  her  to  exercise  her  discipline  pro- 
perly, but  that  there  was  no  ground  for  saying  that  the 
Church  acquiesced  or  was  guilty. 

MarcJi  6. — Mixbury.  Early  Communion.  Then  breakfast. 
Morning  prayer  and  Confirmation.  Many  letters.  Finmere, 
afternoon  service.  A  striking  attendance  of  men  :  no  dis- 
senting labourers.  Long  talk  with  R.  Palmer  on  Church 
matters  in  the  garden.     He  sound  and  very  able. 

March  15. — After  breakfast  rode  to  Checkendon^  through 
woods  full  of  memories.  Turned  once  or  twice  out  of  the 
road  and  found  out  old  haunts.  The  house  too  so  full  of  re- 
collections, and  the  garden.  My  blessed  one.  Robert,  &c.  &c. 
How  life  changed.  Drove,  rain  coming  on,  to  Cavcrsham, 
where  Confirmation. 

The  Bishop  of  Oxford  to  R.  G.  Wilbcrforcc. 

Brussels,  April  8. 

On  Easter  Sunday  night  I  and  E and  Y set  off 

on  our  travels,  going  to  Dover  to  sleep,  and  meaning  to  cross 
the  next  day.     But  next  day  F was  not  well,  so  I  went 

■  Essays  and  Revie-us.  '  The  Bishop's  first  curacy. 


134                 LIFE  OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.           chap.  v. 
over  and  went  on  to  St.  Germains/  where  E and  F 


joined  us  on  Wednesday  evening.  We  went  together  to 
Paris  most  days,  and  took  Henry  and  his  daughters  with 
us,  and  saw  a  great  deal  of  Paris.  On  Thursday  I  baptized 
the  ambassador's  grandchild,  and  on  Friday  held  a  Con- 
firmation in  Paris,  and  preached  Sunday.  IMonday  I  went  to 
the  Tuileries  and  saw  the  Emperor  and  Empress,  &c. ;  it  was 
a  very  splendid  affair.     On  Tuesday  morning  I  set  off  for 

Brussels,  leaving  E and  F at  St.  Germains,  as  I  had 

undertaken  Confirmations  there  and  at  Antwerp.  There  I 
have  been  since  and  seen  all  the  leading  Belgian  ministers, 
and  had  a  good  deal  of  interesting  conversation  with  them  ; 
and  now  I  am  in  the  railway  carnage  with  Fosbery  for 
Calais,  where  we  are  to  sleep  to-night,  confirm  to-morrow, 
and  then  cross  to  Dover,  whence  I  am  to  go  to  Windsor,  the 
Dean's,  till  Monday,  for  preaching  and  Confirmation,  and  on 
Monday  go  to  Cuddesdon  till  Saturday,  to  receive  Rural 
Deans,  Inspectors,  &c.,  and  then  move  to  London.  .  .  .  Dear 

A ^  has  been    at  death's  door  with  dropsy :  indeed  one 

sudden  movement  would  probably  hav^e  killed  her.  ...  I  am 
longing  exceedingly  to  hear  from  you,  and  am  ever  praying 
for  you.  I  am  always,  my  beloved  son,  your  most  dearly 
loving  father,  g_  ^^^^ 

The  Bishop's  diary  gives  a  few  more  details. 
March  29. — After  breakfast  to  Paris  with  William. 
Day  cold  and  snowy.  Called  on  Lord  Cowley — cordial, 
and  then  on  Guizot :  he  talked  about  our  Privy  Council 
decision,  at  which  he  was  much  displeased.  '  What 
should  we  do  ? '  The  Bishop  also  called  on  M  M. 
Thiers  and  Prevost-Paradol.  On  the  31st  the  diary 
records  that  they  were  all  photographed  by  his  brother 
William.  Then  again  to  Paris,  and  called  on  several 
people,  returning  in  the  evening  to  St.  Germains. 
On  April  I  the  Bishop  confirmed  in  Paris,  and  on  the 
3rd,  Sunday,  preached  at  the  Church  in  the  Avenue 

*■  Where  his  brother  William  was  living.  *  An  old  nurse. 


1864.  SERMON  IN  PARIS.  1 35 

Marboeuf.  The  diary  says  :  '  Voice  at  first  troublesome. 
Large  communion.'  In  the  evening  the  Bishop  and  his 
brother '  dined  with  Thiers,  meeting  Mignet,'  &c.  *  The 
Guardian '  says : — 

The  Bishop  preached  on  behalf  of  the  S.  P.  G.  in  the 
Church  of  the  Avenue  Marboeuf.     The  correspondent  of  the 

*  Guardian '    expressed    satisfaction    at    seeing   a    so-called 

*  High  Church '  Bishop  officiating  in  a  so-called  '  Low 
Church'  place  of  worship.  But  this  satisfaction  was  still 
further  increased  by  the  utter  unconsciousness  on  the  part  of 
the  Bishop  of  Oxford  that  anything  of  the  kind  was  the  case 
or  that  he  was  occupying  any  anomalous  or  peculiar  position 
or  that,  in  fact,  he  was  officiating  anywhere  or  under  any 
other  circumstances  than  in  a  building  dedicated  to  the 
service  and  ritual  of  the  Church  of  England,  and  where  the 
Liturgy  and  Prayer-book  of  the  Church  of  England  were 
evidently  the  rule  and  order  of  divine  worship.  In  the 
pulpit  no  one  could  complain  of  the  deficiency  of  the  Bishop's 
exposition  of  doctrine,  either  in  point  of  positiveness  or 
catholicity.  There,  at  least,  no  wavering  or  halting  between 
two  opinions  was  allowed  in  matters  really  vital,  and  few 
who  were  present  will  soon  forget  the  wonderful  and  im- 
pressive energy  with  which,  despite  his  failing  and  exhausted 
voice,  he  laid  before  those  who  were  inclined  to  pare  down 
the  edges  and  round  the  corners  of  the  miraculous,  the 
solemn  and  awful  choice  between  the  Gospel  as  an  utter  and 
impudent  imposture  and  the  Gospel  as  the  power  of  God 
and  the  wisdom  of  God. 

The  Bishop  left  Paris  on  April  5,  and  *  The 
Guardian  '  correspondent  supplies  these  facts  : — 

Yielding  to  the  wishes  of  the  British  residents,  the  Bishop 
held  a  Confirmation  at  Brussels  on  April  5. 

The  chapel  was  crowded  to  excess  by  a  multitude  eager 
to  listen  to  the  words  of  a  prelate  whose  eloquence  and 
impressive  manner  render  his  ministrations  a  real  privilege 
to  both  young  and  old.  Nor  were  any  disappointed  ;  both 
before  and  after  the  imposition  of  hands,  the  Bishop  addressed 


1 36  LIFE   OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.  chap.  v. 

the  candidates  in  one  of  the  most  touching  charges  it  ever 
fell  to  our  good  fortune  to  hear.  His  simple  language  and 
apt  illustrations  conveyed  the  full  meaning  of  the  holy  rite 
within  the  reach  of  the  youngest  intelligence  present,  while 
the  clear  and  solemn  tones  of  his  splendid  voice  brought 
every  word  he  uttered  within  the  hearing  of  those  seated 
farthest  from  him. 

The  Bishop  of  Oxford  proceeded,  on  Thursday 
April  7,  to  Antwerp,  where  he  confirmed  a  number 
of  young  persons,  and  on  Friday  started  for  Calais, 
whence,  after  again  conferring  that  holy  rite,  he 
returned  to  London. 

April  22. — Convocation  breakfast.  To  Eastern  Counties 
rail.  Met  the  Prince  of  Wales,  and  travelled  down  with  him. 
Dinner  at  9.30.  He,  Knollys,  Grey,  Byng,  C.  Wood,  SlC. 
After — a  good  deal  of  talk  in  the  drawing-room  with  the 
Princess.     She  thin,  but  in  good  spirits. 

April  23. — Up  at  7,  read  office,  &c.  Wrote  letters,  in  all 
fifty,  with  C.  Wood's  help.  Walked  with  the  Prince ;  saw 
dogs,  gardens.  Cedars  of  Lebanon.  He  gave  me  one  in 
flower-pot,  brought  in  seed  by  him  from  Lebanon.^  The 
Duke  of  Cambridge  came  after  luncheon.  Saw  the  young 
Prince,  a  nice  child.  The  Princess  very  charming,  simplicity, 
goodness,  dignity.  Rode  with  Prince  of  Wales  and  Duke  of 
Cambridge  to  Castle  Rising. 

April  24. — Sunday.  Up  early,  prepared  sermon.  Read 
two  of  Carter's,  and  preached  at  last  from  notes  in  great 
measure  different.  After  afternoon  church,  walked  with  the 
Prince  and  Duke  of  Cambridge  to  the  heronry,  &c.,  pleasant 
walk  and  evening.  The  Princess  gave  me  her  photograph 
and  desired  mine. 

April  2^. — Morning.  Letters,  &c.  At  i  in  carriage  with 
the  Princess,  Mrs.  Grey,  and  Mrs.  Knollys,  to  Hunstanton. 
The  Prince  driving  wagonette,  others  riding.  Picnic  and  all 
photographed. 

*  This  cedar  is  now  flourishing  at  Lavington,  where  it  was  planted  by  the 
Bishop. 


1 864.  VISIT  TO  SANDRINGHAM.  I  37 

April  26. — Off  early  to  King's  Lynn.  Breakfast  in  odd 
little  room  over  river.  In  Prince's  express  to  Ely,  at  service 
of  installation.  Striking.  Then  to  London,  and  just  too  late 
for  Church  Institution  meeting.     Walk  with  the  Archbishop. 

The  following  also  refers  to  the  above  visit  : — 
77/<?  Bishop  of  Oxford  to  R,  G.  Wilberforcc. 

April  26,  1864. 

I  have  been  at  Sandringham,  paying  a  visit  to  the 
Prince  and  Princess  of  Wales,  and  a  very  pleasant  visit  it  has 
been.  They  are  so  thoroughly  kind  and  friendly,  and  leave 
you  so  very  much  to  do  as  you  like.  She  is  quite  charming. 
She  sent  her  book  to  me  last  night,  asking  me  to  write  some- 
thing, and  here  was  my  inscription  : — 

Of  all  of  our  hearts  Princess, 

With  love  thy  life  to  bless, 
Along  thy  path  of  happiness, 

Onward  to  glory  press. 

...  I    am    in    Pall    Mall.     Convocation    just   over   for   the 
present.  .  .  .  How  my  heart  reaches  out  after  you. 

June  23. — Morning  Convocation  breakfast.  Then  Con- 
vocation. To  House  of  Lords.  Carried  second  reading  of 
Schools  Bill.'^  Rode  with  Bishop  of  Gloucester  ;  Worcester  ^ 
fell  heavily  w'ith  me  in  the  park.  Lady  Cowper  brought  me 
home.     A  great  escape,  D.G. 

It  was  a  great  escape,  and  the  Bishop  thus  de- 
scribes it  in  letters  to  friends  : — 

Many  thanks  for  your  most  kind  letter.  Your  '  out- 
pourings '  never  weary,  always  interest  me  greatly.  My  fall 
was  a  bad  one.  My  mare  stumbled,  fell  on  one  knee,  and  as  I 
was  trying  to  raise  her,  shot  over  on  her  head,  I  still  in  the 
saddle,  and  smashed  my  head  on  the  gravel.     I  believe  but 

'  A  Bill  to  permit  a  Bishop  to  license  a  clergyman  to  perform  Divine  Service 
in  a  chapel  attached  to  the  school.  The  Bill  passed  the  House  of  Lords,  but 
owing  to  the  lateness  of  its  introduction  in  the  House  of  Commons  it  did  not  pass. 

*  The  Bishop's  horse. 


1 38  LIFE   OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.  chap.  v. 

for  a  strong  shovel  hat,  which  was  absolutely  crumpled  up, 
I  might  have  been  killed.  I  never,  in  hunting  days,  had 
such  a  fall.  But  I  was  mercifully  preserved,  and  am  not  in 
any  way  materially  hurt.  Two  unepiscopal  black  e}-es  attest 
the  blow. 

To  another  friend  the  Bishop  writes  : — 

It  has  been  a  very  great  escape.  I  never  had  such  a 
smash,  and  the  horse  only  just  avoided  treading  on  my  face 
as  she  got  up.  I  quite  hoped  to  save  her,  and  so  sat  till  she 
shooting  forwards  on  the  top  of  her  head  smashed  me  under 
her  in  the  road. 

July  I. — Off  after  breakfast  with  Walpole,  Chelmsford, 
Lord  Salisbury,  &c.,  and  Prince  and  Princess  of  Wales  for 
Wellington  College.  Back  in  afternoon.  House  of  Lords' 
debate  on  Japan.  Spoke  against  Ministers.  Dined  at  Lady 
Truro's.     Duke  of  Cambridge,  &c. 

July  2. — Letters,  &c.  To  Regent's  Park  Botanical 
Gardens.  Princess  Mary  came.  Luncheon  with  C.  Sykes, 
Wood,  &c.  Then  wrote.  Dined  Duke  of  Manchester's. 
Prince  and  Princess  Louis  of  Hesse.  A  good  deal  of  talk 
with  her.  She  wonderfully  like  the  Queen,  especially  in 
manner,  ways,  &c. 

July  3. — Sunday.  Drove  down  with  Arthur  Gordon  to 
Chislehurst.  Heavy  showers.  Garden  beautiful.  The 
Gladstones  there.  IMorning  Holy  Communion  and  no 
sermon.  I  preached  afternoon.  Walk  with  Gladstone  and 
R.  Cavendish  ;  much  talk.     Pleasant  day. 

July  4. — After  breakfast  drove  up  to  town  with  Arthur 
Gordon.  Colonial  Bishopric  Council.  Got  Gladstone  to 
come.  Agreed  to  reserve  Natal  Bishopric  Fund.  Then 
Royal  Commission.  Then  to  House  of  Commons'  debate. 
Disraeli  and  Gladstone.     Dined  at  Lord  Ebury's. 

On  July  S  the  'want  of  confidence  motion'  which 
had  been  moved  in  the  House  of  Commons  on  July  4 
by  Mr.  Disraeli,  and  which  had  resulted  in  a  majority 
for  the  Government  of  eighteen,  was  carried   in  the 


1864.  VOTE  AGAINST  THE   GOVERNMENT.  139 

House  of  Lords  against  the  Government  by  a  majority 
of  nine.  The  following  letter  to  Mr.  Gladstone 
explains  the  Bishop's  reasons  for  voting  with  the 
majority  : — 

The  Bishop  of  Oxford  lo  the  Right  Hon. 
W.  E.  Gtadstoiie. 

26  Pall  Mall,  July  8,  1S64. 

My  dear  Gladstone, — I  cannot  go  down  to  the  House  to 
vote  against  a  Government  of  which  you  are  the  main  prop, 
without  telling  you  the  utter  sorrow  with  which  after  great 
misgiving  I  do  it.  Your  memory  is  so  tenacious  that  you 
may  perhaps  remember  our  conversation  at  Hawarden  last 
year.  Here  is  just  the  fulfilment  of  the  apprehension  I  there 
opened  to  you.  If  this  was  your  Government,  or  even  if  you 
had,  in  this  Government,  for  Church  purposes,  the  power  you 
ought  to  have,  I  should  never  have  voted  against  it,  even  if  I 
thought  the  particular  attack  true  and  so  could  not  vote  for  it. 
But  what  can  I  do  .-'  with  a  Government  headed  by  Palmer- 
ston  with  all  his  personal  disqualifications,  and  directed  by 
Shaftesbury,  with  a  studied  and  wilful  rejection  of  your 
influence  on  Church  questions,  how  can  I  do  anything  to  keep 
it  in  office }  and  if,  as  I  believe,  John  Russell's  tone  has 
mainly  caused  our  present  entanglements,  how  can  I  (if  I  do 
not  vote  merely  to  keep  in  the  Government)  vote  against  this 
resolution — and  yet  the  supporting  what  is  counter  to  you 
gives  me  a  pang  I  cannot  describe.  Against  you,  in  the  long 
run,  I  do  not  believe  it  will  be.  Anything  which  breaks  up  or 
tends  to  break  up  Palmerston's  supremacy  must  bring  you 
nearer  to  the  post  in  which  I  long  to  see  you  ;  and  if  I  live 
shall  see  you.  One  thing  I  know  your  generous  heart  will 
do,  you  will  believe  with  what  exceeding  pain  I  shall  vote  to- 
night. '  For  you  know  with  what  a  full  confidence  in  you, 
what  a  profound  admiration  and  hearty  love  I  am  ever  yours 

S.  OxoN. 
The  debate  in  the  House  of  Lords  on  the  conduct 


140  LIFE   OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.  chap.  v. 

of  Convocation  in  the  matter  of  '  Essays  and  Reviews' 
is  shortly  stated  here.  The  Archbishop  of  Canterbury 
and  the  Bishop  of  London  as  well  as  the  Bishop  took 
part  in  the  debate.  A  careful  perusal  of  these  speeches 
makes  it  clear  that  the  Bishops  entrusted  their  defence 
to  the  Bishop  of  Oxford  and  recognised  him  as  their 
champion. 

On  Friday,  July  15,  Lord  Houghton  brought  under 
the  notice  of  the  House  of  Lords  the  question  of  the 
synodical  condemnation  of'  Essays  and  Reviews'  by  the 
Upper  House  of  Convocation,  and  terminated  a  long 
and  apparently  prepared  speech  by  asking  : — 

Whether  Her  Majesty's  Government  had  taken  or  were 
willing  to  take  the  opinion  of  the  law  officers  of  the  Crown  as 
to  the  powers  of  the  Convocation  of  the  Province  of  Canter- 
bury to  pass  a  synodical  judgment  on  books  written  either 
by  clergymen  or  laymen,  as  to  the  immunity  of  the  members 
of  that  body  from  proceedings  at  common  law  consequent  on 
such  judgments,  and  as  to  the  forms  according  to  which  such 
judicial  power  must  be  exercised  if  it  belongs  to  that  body. 

This  question  was  answered  by  the  Lord  Chancellor 
(Westbury)  '  that  it  was  not  the  intention  of  the  Govern- 
ment to  take  any  further  steps  in  the  matter.'  The 
Lord  Chancellor,  in  his  speech,  expounded  the  law  on 
the  matter,  and  declared  that  Convocation  had  no  legal 
right  to  pronounce  such  synodical  condemnation,  be- 
cause, as  all  appeals  must  lie  to  the  Crown,  and  as  there 
was  no  appeal  to  the  Crown  from  such  condemnation, 
therefore  the  condemnation  was  illegal.  The  opinions 
of  Sir  Hugh  Cairns  and  Mr.  Rolt  had  been  obtained  by 
the  Archbishop  on  the  question,  and  their  opinion 
differed  in  toto  from  the  Lord  Chancellor's.  So  much  for 
the  legal  bearing  of  the  speech.  But  the  Lord  Chan- 
cellor, still  smarting  under  the  castigation  which  he  had 
already  received  from  the  Bishop,  took  the  opportunity 


1864.  LORD    WESTBURY'S  ATTACK.  141 

to  make  a  personal  attack  on  him,  who,  as  he  well 
knew,  had  been  the  leading  spirit  in  obtaining  the 
condemnation.  He  said  the  'judgment  is  simply  a  series 
of  well-lubricated  terms — a  sentence  so  oily  and  sapo- 
nacious  that  no  one  could  grasp  it — like  an  eel,  it  slips 
through  your  fingers  and  is  simply  nothing.'  The 
Bishop,  replying  to  this  evidently  pointed  attack, 
said  : — 

I  have  good  ground  to  complain  of  the  tone  of  the  noble 
and  learned  lord  on  the  woolsack.  If  a  man  has  no  respect 
for  himself,  he  ought  at  all  events  to  respect  the  tribunal 
before  which  he  speaks,  and  when  the  highest  representative 
of  the  law  of  England  in  your  Lordships'  Court,  upon  a 
matter  involving  the  liberties  of  the  subject  and  the  religion 
of  the  realm  and  all  those  high  truths  concerning  which  this 
discussion  is,  can  think  it  fitting  to  descend  to  a  ribaldry  in 
which  he  knows  that  he  can  safely  indulge,  because  those  to 
whom  he  addresses  it  will  have  too  much  respect  for  their 
character  to  answer  him  in  like  sort,  I  say  that  this  House  has 
ground  to  complain  of  having  its  high  character  unnecessarily 
injured  in  the  sight  of  the  people  of  this  land  by  one  occupying 
so  high  a  position  within  it.^ 

This  calm  and  dio^nified  rebuke  was  received  with 
cheers  from  the  house.  The  Bishop  then  proceeded 
to  demolish  the  arguments  on  the  legal  aspect  of  the 
case  which  had  been  advanced  by  the  Lord  Chancellor. 
The  conclusion  of  the  Bishop's  speech  is  given,  and 
perhaps,  as  '  The  Guardian '  observed.  Lord  West- 
bury's  provocation  was  '  not  that  the  judgment  was  a 
nullity,  but  that  it  was  indeed  too  effectual.' 

We  are  set  in  trust  in  this  land  for  this — that  we  may  be 

^  A  note  written  by  the  Archbishop  the  day  before  the  debate,  begging  th.e 
Bishop  to  be  present,  says,  '  The  Lord  Chancellor  kindly  Informed  me,  that  he 
thinks  he  shall  be  satisfied  with  giving  a  grave  advtonition  to  the  contumacious 
Prelates   in  Convocation,  without  inflicting  the  severe  penalties  which  might 

ensue  !  ! ' 


142  LIFE   OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.  chap.  v. 

the  true  depository  of  the  truth  which  God  has  revealed,  as 
held  by  this  reformed  Church  of  England.  Was  it  or  was  it 
not  our  duty,  when  we  saw  the  peace  of  the  Church  assailed, 
to  use  the  instrument  which,  as  we  believed,  and  still  believe 
— I  may  say  with  additional  force  when  we  see  the  nice  avoid- 
ance of  the  expression  of  any  opinion  that  we  were  really  in 
the  wrong — firmly  was  our  right,  and  because  it  was  our  right, 
imposed  upon  us  a  corresponding  duty  .'*  One  thing  I  ven- 
ture to  state  is  this,  that  I  would  rather  subject  myself,  in  the 
presence  of  my  countrymen,  and  of  your  noble  House,  to  any 
amount  of  that  invective  and  insinuation,  and  of  all  those 
arts,  I  will  not  say  of  what  part  of  the  Bar  of  England,  of 
w'hich  we  have  seen  something  to-night — I  would,  I  repeat, 
rather  a  thousand  times  incur  it  all,  than  have  to  look  back 
on  my  deathbed  on  myself  as  one  of  those  who  had  not 
striven  for  the  truth  of  our  Established  Church,  and  had  not 
encountered,  because  I  was  afraid,  personally,  of  the  con- 
sequences, anything  which  the  maintenance  of  that  truth 
might  entail  (cheers).  There  is,  my  lords,  a  single  further 
remark  which  I  should  wish  to  make.  We  have  heard  of  the 
importance  of  preserving  peace  and  quietness  on  such  ques- 
tions as  that  we  are  discussing,  and  I  firmly  believe  that  such 
a  judgment  as  that  which  we  have  pronounced  is  the  best 
means  of  preserving  peace  to  the  Church,  I  believe,  indeed, 
that  this  effect  has  already  been  produced.  I  know,  at  all 
events,  that  from  all  parts  of  this  country,  I  have  myself 
received  assurances  of  minds  quieted,  permitting  men  to  go 
again  about  their  ordinary  duties  without  being  stirred  up  by 
the  feeling  that  the  Church  was  resting  under  an  imputation 
of  having  allowed  to  pass  uncontradicted  false  doctrine  pro- 
mulgated by  her  teachers  ;  and  I  am  satisfied  that  if  you 
would  avoid  the  recurrence  of  such  a  state  of  things  as  you 
have  witnessed,  you  will  find  that  the  best  way  in  which  that 
can  be  done  is  by  allowing  the  Church  in  her  authorised 
manner  to  pronounce  for  her  followers,  as  she  has  done  in 
this  instance,  that  she  disclaims  for  her  living  ministry  this 
erroneous  teaching  (cheers). 

The   Lord  Chancellor  in  reply  made  a  short  but 
markedly  personal  retort,  and  the  subject  dropped. 


1864.  RECONCILIATION.  1 43 

The  tone  of  the  debate  was  so  personal  that  it 
occasioned  a  breach  of  the  relations  which  had  pre- 
viously existed  between  the  Bishop  and  Lord  West- 
bury.  A  letter  to  Mr,  Gordon  shows  that  the  Chancellor, 
in  February  of  the  following  year,  attempted  to  make 
amends  for  his  conduct  : — 

Lord  Westbury  forced  a  reconciliation  on  mc,  sending 
Lord  St.  Germans  to  ask  me  to  speak  to  him  on  the  wool- 
sack ;  and  then  asking  me  '  to  take  once  more  his  hand,' 
and  hoping  *  I  had  enjoyed  my  vacation  and  shot  many 
pheasants.' 

It  was  not  for  some  months,  however,  that  the 
personal  relations  which  had  previously  existed  between 
the  Bishop  and  Lord  Westbury  were  really  renewed. 
The  circumstances  were  extremely  characteristic  of  the 
two  men.  Some  little  time  after  Lord  Westbury's 
resignation,  which  took  place  in  July  1865,  in  conse- 
quence of  a  vote  of  censure,  attributing  to  him  laxity 
and  want  of  caution  in  filling  up  appointments  and 
granting  pensions  to  retiring  public  servants  over  whose 
heads  grave  charges  were  impending,  which  was 
passed  by  the  House  of  Commons,  the  Bishop  and 
Lord  Westbury  met  face  to  face  in  the  lobby  of  the 
House  of  Lords,  one  going  out,  the  other  entering  ; 
when  Lord  Westbury  stopped  the  Bishop,  and  holding 
out  his  hand  said  : 

'  My  Lord  Bishop,  as  a  Christian  and  a  Bishop, 
you  will  not  refuse  to  shake  hands.'  The  Bishop 
immediately  responded  to  the  proffered  invitation. 
Lord  Westbury  then  said  :  '  Do  you  remember  where 
we  last  met  ?  '  ' 

'  The  diary  of  July  7,  1865,  thus  records  this  meeting  : — '  Going  in  to  the 
Queen,  met  Westbury  coming  out ;  his  fallen  look  moved  my  compassion.  Later 
I  met  him  on  the  broad  staircase  looking  quite  down,  as  he  wandered  alone  down 
to  the  town.     But  Delane  told  me  that  going  up  to  London  in  the  train  he  was 


144  Z//^^    OF  BISHOP   WILBERFORCE.  chap.  v. 

The  Bishop  :  '  No.' 

Lord  Westbury  :  '  It  was  in  the  hour  of  my  humiHa- 
tion,  when  I  was  leaving  the  Queen's  Closet,  having 
given  up  the  Great  Seal.  I  met  you  on  the  stairs  as  I 
was  coming  out,  and  I  felt  inclined  to  say  :  "  Hast  thou 
found  me,  oh  mine  enemy  ?  "  ' 

The  Bishop,  in  relating  this,  used  to  say  :  '  I  never 
was  so  tempted  in  my  life  as  I  was  then  to  finish  the 
quotation,  but  by  a  great  effort  I  kept  it  down  and 
said  : — 

'  Does  your  Lordship  remember  the  end  of  the 
quotation  ?  ' 

Lord  Westbury  :  '  We  lawyers,  my  Lord  Bishop, 
are  not  in  the  habit  of  quoting  part  of  a  passage  with- 
out knowing  the  whole.' 

No  doubt,  as  the  Bishop  said,  he  went  home  and 
looked  it  out  in  his  family  Bible,  where  he  saw  :  '  Yea, 
I  have  found  thee,  because  thou  hast  sold  thyself  to 
work  iniquity.* 

The   following   letter    evidences     Lord     Derby's 
opinion  on  the  above  debate  : — 

The  Bishop  of  Oxford  to  Sir  Charles  Anderson. 

vStoneleigh  Abbey,  July  26,  1864. 

My  dearest  Anderson, —  How  I  wish  we  had  you  here.  It 
is  a  most  beautiful  place,  and  a  very  pleasant  house  and  party. 
The  Adderleys,  B.  Hope,  and  Lady  Mildred,  Whewell  and 
Lady  Affleck,  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Guest,  Lord  Camden  and  Lady 
Frances.  We  are  just  oft"  for  the  first  meeting  at  Warwick  of 
Archeological  Society.     Give  my  love  to  all,  especially  my 

dear  F and  E .     I  have  a  letter  from  Lord  Derby  this 

morning,  in  which  he  says  :  '  I  am  glad  to  have  been  spared 
the  pain  of  witnessing  the  Chancellor's  disgraceful  exhibition 
in  the  House  of  Lords,  though  I  own  I  should  like  to  have 

quite  uproarious  in  his  jollity,  professing  such  delight  at  being  free  from  office, 
going  to  enjoy  himself,  foreign  travel,  &c. 


r864.  SPEECH  AT  MR.   MOORE'S.  1 45 

heard  your  crushing  reply.'    I  am  ever,  my  dearest  Anderson, 

your  most  afifectionate,  ^   ^ 

^  '  .  S.  OXON. 

The  Bishop  also  received  the  following  from  the 
Bishop  of  Exeter  : — 

Accept  my  warmest  thanks  for  your  triumphant  display  of 
your  eloquence  and  talents  in  the  best  cause  on  Friday  last. 
The  noble  and  learned  personage  who  provoked  the  conflict 
must  have  felt  (thick-skinned  as  he  may  be)  the  flogging  which 
he  drew  down  on  himself.  Anything  more  complete  I  never 
knew.  I  hope  that  there  were  a  sufficient  number  of  Lay 
Lords  to  witness  and  enjoy  the  castigation. 

Lord  Chelmsford,  who  was  present  at  the  debate, 
In  describing  it  to  his  great  friend  Archdeacon  Randall, 
said,  '  It  was  so  crushing  and  at  the  same  time  so 
dignified  and  free  from  any  appearance  of  Irritation.' 

The  diary  thus  refers  to  the  engagements  of  the 
day,  and  also  refers  to  the  way  the  Bishop  spent  the 
evening  after  the  debate. 

July  15. — Prevost  breakfasted.  Then  to  Committee  on 
Clerical  Subscription.  Then  S.P.G.  Then  Colonial  Bishop's 
Council.  House  of  Lords,  the  Chancellor's  insolent  speech 
and  reply.  To  Mr.  Moore's,  and  addressed  his  young  men 
and  women  on  '  the  London  we  live  in.'  Very  late  at  nin-ht, 
getting  everything  ready  for  leaving  town. 

The  following  extract  Is  from  the  address  referred 
to  In  the  diary  : — 

In  London  men  and  women  were  wonderfully  insulated. 
In  a  village  everybody  knew  everybody  else.  There  was  a 
great  constraint  in  that.  They  lived  under  a  continual 
observation.  But  a  man  came  to  London  and  no  one  knew 
about  him.  He  (the  Bishop)  recollected  his  first  night  in 
London.  He  looked  out  of  the  bedroom  window  of  the  little 
inn  in  which  he  was  staying,  at  the  surging  crowd  which  passed 
and  re-passed  beneath  him  ;  and  he  could  have  screamed  for 
VOL.  in.  L 


I  *f^  LIFE   OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.  chap.  v. 

someone  who  knew  him,  or  knew  somebody  he  knew,  or  some- 
thing about  which  he  could  talk  to  them.  This  feeling  of 
isolation  in  the  midst  of  a  vast  crowd  was  absolutely  painful. 
.  .  .  Coleridge  said  that  every  man's  face  was  either  a  history 
or  a  prophecy.  He  thought  it  was  both.  He  liked  to  wander 
in  the  crowd  and  look  at  the  faces  of  the  people  ;  though  he 
could  often  shed  tears  as  he  passed  through  the  streets,  and 
witness  sights  which  every  one  of  them  might  witness  if 
observant.  They  might  see  a  poor  woman,  for  instance,  with 
vice,  wretchedness,  and  misery  plainly  marked  upon  her 
countenance,  holding  a  child  in  her  arms.  That  child  would 
move,  and  in  the  mother's  look,  as  she  turned  towards  it,  they 
could  see  a  remnant  of  her  better  self — an  indication  of  the 
existence  of  a  hallowed  feeling  which  might  be  made  an 
influence  for  good  in  the  work  of  her  restoration  to  the  paths 
of  purity  and  peace.  By  way  of  safeguard,  let  them  try  to 
bear  in  mind  that  they  were  really  not  alone,  though  they 
seemed  to  be  so,  but  that  they  were  influencing  many  for 
good  or  for  evil  every  day,  if  not  every  hour.  Let  them  try 
to  influence  them  for  good,  not  by  canting,  which  always  did 
harm,  but  by  living  as  real  men.  Even  though  their  light 
were  but  as  that  of  the  glowworm  beneath  the  bush,  let  them 
be  ever  anxious  to  do  good  to  those  around  them.  Let  them 
beware  of  the  influence  of  their  example  on  those  who  were 
younger.  Let  theirs  not  be  found  to  be  an  influence  for  evil, 
but  let  them  each  day  set  about  the  day's  toil  and  face  the 
day's  temptations  with  the  resolve  to  do  all  the  good  they 
could. 

He  was  not  going  to  preach  to  them  there,  but  he  told 
them  that  all  other  safeguards  were  of  little  value  without 
religion.  It  was  a  delusion  to  suppose  that  the  cultivation  of 
the  mere  intellect  would  cure  the  deep-seated  wound  of  sin- 
fallen  humanity.  .  .  .  He  concluded  by  urging  them,  as  far 
as  possible,  to  spend  their  hours  of  relaxation  in  the  country, 
where  they  could  enjoy  the  beauties  of  nature,  and  to  avoid 
all  that  was  ungodly  or  even  unmanly. 

In  August  the  Bishop  was  in  North  Wales,  partly 
holiday-making,  and  partly  attending  meetings  for 
S.P.G. 


i864.         ARCHDEACON  JONES'   CONVERSATION.  147 

August  28. — (Bangor.)  Up  in  good  time.  Prepared 
sermon  on  *  Ten  Lepers.'  Collected  47/.  6s.  od. — more  than 
double  what  had  been  before  collected.  Archdeacon  Jones 
preached  a  good  plain  sermon  in  the  afternoon.  Walked  with 
the  Bishop  ;  a  good  deal  of  talk  ;  a  good,  sober,  humble  man. 

Atigust  29. —  Wrote;  then  to  Cathedral;  wrote  again. 
With  the  Bishop  and  Mrs.  Clarke  to  Llandudno,  Luncheon 
with  the  Dean  of  Christ  Church,  with  whom  W.  Richmond. 
Good  S.  P.  G.  meeting.  With  Williams  to  Archdeacon 
Jones'.     Dean  of  Christ  Church  and  Mrs.  Liddell,  &c.,  dined. 

August  30. — Morning  :  walk  with  Archdeacon  Jones,  who 
very  pleasant  and  communicative.  '  Cyril  Jackson  ^  a  man  of 
very  warm  affections ;  quite  probable  that  he  would  take  the  side 
of  affections  as  against  Horsley  taking  the  intellect  as  the  chief 
thing  in  religion.  He  never  forsook  a  friend,  or  forgot  his 
interests.  When  Canterbury  was  vacant,  and  Pitt  had  tried 
to  get  George  IV.  to  appoint  Pretyman,  the  Duke  of 
Portland  went  to  Pitt  to  urge  Jackson.  Pitt  said,  "  I  have 
done  all  I  can  for  my  friend  ;  go  and  see  what  you  can  do  for 
yours."     But  the  King  would  not  hear  of  it.     When  Cyril 

Jackson  and  M were  removed  from  the  Prince  of  Wales 

Cyril  Jackson's  chief  offence  was  not  calling  to  inquire  after 
the   wife   of  the    Prince's   governor    after   her   confinement. 

M said  to  the  King,  "  You  may  easily  replace  me  ;  you 

will  not  Jackson."  Then  C.  Jackson  was  to  have  a  Bishopric. 
Peterborough  and  St.  Asaph  were  vacant.  At  that  time 
Lord  Cornwallis  was  carrying  on  his  great  successes,  so 
Bishop  Cornwallis  came  to  Pitt  and  said,  "  It  is  my  brother's 
particular  object  that  Dr.  Madan  should  have  Peterborough." 
This  was  a  He.  Pitt  said,  "  I  suppose  Jackson  will  not  care 
which  he  has ;  let  it  be  so."  Jackson  told  me,  "  It  made  the 
whole  difference  in  the  world  to  me.  My  father  was  then 
living  in  the  diocese  of  Peterborough,  and  it  would  have 
broken  his  heart  if  I  had  refused  that ;  but  he  did  not  care 
about  St.  Asaph,  so  I  was  able  to  refuse  it."  Then  they 
offered  him  the  Irish  Primacy,  which  also  he  refused.  W. 
Jackson  unlike  him  in  everything.  Taking  that  retirement  in 
Sussex  killed  Jackson.     Addington  was   Horsley's  patron ; 

^  Dean  of  Christ  Church. 
L  2 


148  LIFE   OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.  chap.  v. 

Horslcy  wrote  to  him  a  full  statement  of  his  ruined  affairs, 
and  asked  for  St.  Asaph  ;  Addington  gave  it.  Then  a  living 
fell,  and  he  was  going  to  give  it  to  his  son  ;  but  Robson, 
who  held  a  bill  of  his,  said,  "  No,  my  son  must  have  it,  or  I 
put  the  bill  in  force  ; "  so  his  son  got  it  and  all  sorts  of  other 
things.' 

August  31. — Up  betimes  ;  wrote  ;  a  walk  with  Gladstone 
along  ridge  of  stone  quarries  and  on  the  shoulder  of  the 
Penmaenmawr  mountain  ;  curious  to  see  his  strong  mind  so 
unbend  :  his  head  easily  giddy  ;  cannot  bear  even  the  near 
approach  to  a  precipice ;  kind  to  all  his  children,  and  loved 
by  them. 

From  this  place  the  Bishop  writes  to  his  son 
Reginald  : — 

I  came  here  on  Tuesday  to  visit  Gladstone,  and  am 
leaving  him  to-day  after  a  very  pleasant  visit.  It  is  so  full  of 
interest  to  see  a  man  like  Gladstone  at  leisure  and  with  his 
family,  all  so  united  and  so  affectionate.  It  is  really  a  beautiful 
place,  and  I  have  had  two  good  long  uphill  walks  to  set  me 
up.  My  beloved  son,  above  all  things  seek,  now  you  are 
afar  from  us  all,  to  live  to  God.  Your  life  must  be  more 
risked  than  here ;  be  prepared  for  whatever  may  happen.  If 
it  be  only  one  verse,  read  the  Bible  every  day.  Think  how 
Jacob  returned  to  his  old  father's  side,  because  God  had 
prospered  him.  This  is  nearest  to  my  heart  ;  for  this,  above 
all  other  things,  I  pray  for  you  daily,  and  often  many  times 
a  day  and  in  the  deep  night.     May  God  bless  you. 

A  letter  to  his  son  Ernest,  written  from  Conway, 
August  30,  touches  upon  other  incidents  of  this  Welsh 
visit : — 

Your  dear  letter  gladdened  my  eyes  this  morning.  It  is 
always  such  a  pleasure  hearing  from  you.  I  was  well  tired — 
not  over  tired  — Sunday  and  yesterday  at  a  great  meeting  at 
Llandudno  ;  was  very  tired,  but  nothing  the  matter. 

I  read  my  office  on  the  hillside  of  this  beautiful  house 
before  breakfast  this  morning,  in  a  little  wood  on  the  moun- 
tain quite  full  of  living  things,  including  a  grand  snake  and  a 


1864.  CONFERENCE  AT  OXFORD.  1 49 

most  playful  little  weasel  which  came  close  without  seeing 
me.  I  could  lift  up  my  heart  high  in  God's  praises  looking 
at  the  glorious  sea  and  the  everlasting  hills  whose  founda- 
tions He  has  laid.  I  am  going  by-and-by  to  walk  over  the 
hill  to  Penmaenmawr.  To-day  is  perfectly  delicious — warm, 
with  a  most  pleasant  breeze.  My  host  is  eighty-three,  in  full 
vigour.  Such  a  green  old  age !  He  has  been  walking  over 
the  hill  with  us,  and  telling  me  stories  about  Cyril  Jackson, 
Horsley,  &c.  &c. 

In  August  the  Bishop  held  a  large  Conference  of 
Clergy  at  Oxford  ;  as  some  of  the  writers  in  '  Essays 
and  Reviews '  and  Bishop  Colenso  in  his  works  had 
questioned  the  Inspiration  of  Scripture,  the  Bishop 
took  this  opportunity  of  declaring  his  belief  on  the 
subject.  The  speech  was  somewhat  incorrectly  re- 
ported, and  this  drew  from  the  Bishop  a  letter,  which 
was  published  in  '  The  Guardian,'  in  which  he  corrects 
the  misquotation  and  summarises  his  belief.  The 
letter  was  addressed  to  an  Oxford  Rector  : — 

August  17. 

I  said  nothing  of  the  sort  attributed  to  me  in  these 
extracts.  Perhaps  the  subject  was  too  abstruse  to  be  treated 
so  briefly,  and  this  has  led  to  misapprehension.  In  brief,  my 
belief  is  this  : — The  whole  Bible  comes  to  us  as  '  the  Word 
of  God  '  under  the  sanction  of  God  the  Holy  Ghost.  We 
cannot  pick  and  choose  amidst  its  contents  ;  all  is  God's 
Word  to  us.  But,  as  I  believe  that  this,  which  I  hold  as  the 
only  orthodox  view,  is  encompassed  with  many  difficulties  by 
what  is  called  the  theory  of '  Verbal  Inspiration,'  I  desired  to 
show  how,  in  my  judgment,  a  careful  scrutiny  of  the  Bible 
revealed  the  'divers  manners'  in  which  the  Holy  Ghost  spake — • 

1.  Sometimes  by  the  mere  mechanical  use  of  the  human 
agent  who  conveyed  the  message,  as  when  (i)  God  v/rote 
words  on  the  first  tables  ;  (2)  dictated  them  for  the  second  ; 
or  (3)  committed  them  to  prophets  simply  to  repeat  ;  or  (4) 
spake  them  through  the  prophets. 

2.  Sometimes  by  possessing  the  human  instrument  with  a 


150  LIFE   OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.  chap.  v. 

complete  knowledge  of  that  he  was  to  speak,  and  leaving 
him  to  express  it  under  the  mere  suggestions  and  guardian- 
ship of  his  own  special  presence  according  to  the  natural  use 
of  the  human  faculties.  I  desired,  I  say,  to  show  how  this 
would  greatly  lessen  these  difficulties,  and  enable  men  to 
realise  the  essential  differences  between  Holy  Scripture  and 
any  other  books,  namely  that,  as  all  truth  comes  from  God, 
other  books  may  be  in  a  sense  said  to  be  inspired  because 
they  are  true,  but  Holy  Scripture  alone  can  be  affirmed  to  be 
true  because  it  is  inspired. 

These  extracts  are  taken  from  letters  to  the  son  in 
India  : — 

Wilton  House,  September  16,  1866. 

I  am  going  to-morrow  to  work  in  the  diocese  ;  next 
Tuesday  I  am  to  marry  Miss  Campbell  ;  then  the  Ordination, 
and  next  Monday  we  go,  I  hope,  to  Lavington.  But  I  can 
only  spend  three  Aveeks  there  this  year,  because  of  work  to 
do  on  the  other  side  of  it.  ...  I  think  I  have  now  quite 
got  the  better  of  the  straining  my  neck  when  Worcester  fell. 

October  17. — (Lavington.)  We  have  had  Frank  Buckland 
down  for  a  few  days,  and  very  good  fun  he  was — full  of  his 
natural  history,  and  so  simple  and  unaffected  as  to  make  him 
really  very  charming  indeed.  He  has  put  them  on  trying  to 
make  the  trout  fishing  better ;  so  we  are  moving  the  sheep- 
wash,  which  he  says  poisons  the  fish,  to  the  bottom  of  Graff- 
ham  village — and  there  are  to  be  regular  spawning-beds  kept. 

The  diary  continues  : — 

October  2^. — (Hastings.)  Beautiful  morning.  Read  office, 
wrote,  &c.,  before  breakfast — after,  many  letters.  To  Hast- 
ings with  the  Duke  of  Cleveland  at  Curates'  Additional  Aid 
Society,  and  kindly  received.  Walked  along  the  beach  by 
my  childhood's  haunts — the  great  rocks,  the  caves,  the  sands, 
the  boats — strange  returns  of  the  old  life  looking  in  on  me. 
The  Dean  of  Battle  dined.     Saw  dear  old  Mrs.  Neale. 

The  Bishop  in  his  speech  on  the  occasion  said  : — 

By  the  providence  of  God  this  much  is  certain,  and  must 
be  admitted  by  every  one,  that  the  Church  of  England,  as 


1864.  SPEECH  AT  HASTINGS.  151 

treated  at  present  by  the  State  and  the  nation,  is  the  religious 
teacher  of  the  people.  Mark  you  that  this  is  so.  There  has 
been  given,  and  I  think  very  properly  given,  perfect  liberty  to 
all  other  religious  bodies — and  I  for  one  would  not  see  that 
liberty  infringed  upon  by  prerogative  or  other  legislation  in 
the  least  degree.  But  that  is  not  in  the  least  degree  giving 
up  the  claim  that  the  Church  of  England  is  the  teacher  of  the 
people.  It  is  saying,  '  We  provide  what  we  believe  to  be  the 
properly  constituted  system  of  teaching ;  but  if  others  think 
differently,  we  do  not  enforce  upon  their  consciences  that  which 
they  condemn,  but  leave  them  to  provide  another  for  them- 
selves if  their  consciences  dictate  to  them  to  do  so,  .  .  . 

If  you  ask  me  how  I  can  say  that  the  Church  of  England 
is  the  only  Apostolic  Church  in  the  land,  I  say  that  she  only 
possesses  the  two  qualifications,  perfectness  of  organisation  in 
a  transmitted  line  of  authorised  teachers  from  the  Apostles, 
as  Apostles  from  the  Lord,  combining  with  that  the  true 
transmission  of  the  primitive  doctrine.  The  Church  of  Rome, 
as  I  maintain,  failed  on  both  sides.  ,  .  .  And  then  of  our 
brethren  who  do  not  belong  to  the  Church  of  Rome,  some  of 
whom  are  coming  nearer  to  us  in  very  many  vital  doctrines, 
while  others  are  by  infinitesimal  degrees  receding  into  the  distant, 
cold,  shadowy  ground  which  we  scarcely  hold  to  belong  even 
to  Christianity  upon  the  most  charitable  solution,  because 
they  deny  the  Godhead  of  the  one  Lord,  our  Redeemer  ; 
dealing  with  them  as  a  body,  I  say  that  I  believe  them  to  be 
bad  Churchmen.  I  believe,  through  the  Church  of  England 
established  in  this  land,  they  have  received  the  Bible,  the 
great  outline  of  the  Christian  Creed,  the  Holy  Baptism,  and 
therefore  that  they  have  been  admitted  into  the  Church  of 
Christ,  but  they  are  bad  members  of  that  Church.  I  rejoice 
at  every  single  declaration  of  truth  which  any  one  of  them 
makes.  I  rejoice  when  I  see  piety,  that  kindly  saving  work 
of  the  Spirit,  for  there  can  be  no  true  piety  which  is 
not  the  work  of  grace — and  I  would  not  tie  the  blessed 
working  of  the  free  Spirit  of  God  down  to  any  channel ; 
but  I  maintain  that  it  is  not  at  all  a  corollary  that  therefore 
we  should  doubt  that  the  great  blessing  is  the  appointed 
channel.    I  may  tell  a  man  in  the  midst  of  drought,  *  Put  out 


152  LIFE  OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.  chap.  v. 

your  handkerchief  for  the  drop  of  rain,  and  wring  it  out  for 
your  child  ; '  but  I  do  not  say  that  is  as  good  as  going  to  the 
never-failing  well  and  drawing  out  the  bounteous  and  clear 
stream  whenever  the  children  want  it.  Why  not  treat  it  as 
logical  to  put  the  two  things  together  t  I  am  confident  that 
the  way  to  be  on  the  most  friendly  terms  with  all  those  non- 
conformists around  us  with  whom  it  is  worth  while  being  on 
friendly  terms — and  it  is  worth  while  being  on  friendly  terms 
with  every  honest  and  true  man — I  say  that  the  most  certain 
means  to  be  on  good  terms  with  them  is  to  speak  out  our  own 
truth  fearlessly  and  kindly,  and  let  them  perceive  the  differ- 
ence between  us.  If  you  go  mystifying  and  shillyshallying 
them,  and  saying  they  are  just  the  same  as  we,  and,  *  My  dear 
brother,  there  is  no  difference  between  us  ; '  if  so,  why  in 
the  world  don't  we  share  the  tithes  with  them }  It  seems 
most  monstrous  hypocrisy  to  go  and  say,  '  Beloved  brethren, 
we  are  all  one  ;  but  you  shall  not  come  into  my  pulpit.'  Now, 
how  much  better  to  go  to  the  man  and  say,  '  If  you  love  the 
Lord  Christ,  I  honour  and  love  you  because  you  love  Him  ; 
but  I  differ  from  you  upon  great  and  important  matters.  I 
do  not  love  you  the  less  because  I  differ  from  you  :  but  I  am 
charged  to  teach,  not  a  certain  amount  of  truth  mixed 
with  a  certain  amount  of  error — I  am  charged  to  teach 
the  truth  of  Christ  as  I  have  received  it,  without  addition 
or  subtraction,  even  though  I  win  the  universe  by  add- 
ing or  subtracting  from  it.'  This  is  the  only  ground  which 
can  thoroughly  secure  a  mutual  and  good  understanding 
between  honest  Christian  men  ;  and  there  must  be  that  under- 
standing unless  each  party  is  to  put  on  the  grimaces  of  agree- 
ment, and  then  turn  aside  for  the  reality  of  discord.  That 
being  the  case,  I  have  no  hesitation  about  this  resolution.  I 
say  that  undoubtedly,  because  the  Church  of  England  has 
come  down  from  the  Apostles'  time,  with  the  ministry  which 
the  Lord  Jesus  founded — because  there  has  been  no  break  in 
the  succession  of  our  Bishops,  to  whom  Christ  said,  '  As  my 
Father  in  Heaven  sent  me,  so  send  I  you  ;  he  that  heareth 
you  heareth  me,  and  he  that  rejecteth  you  rejecteth  me  ;'  and 
upon  whom  He  breathed  when  He  said,  '  Go  ye  into  all  the 
w^orld,  and  preach  the  Gospel  to  every  creature  ; '  because,  I 


1 864.  ^^IR-  NEWMAN  HALL  AND   THE  BISHOP.        153 

,  say,  that  at  this  moment  the  Bishops  of  the  Church  of  England 
are  by  unbroken  succession  the  descendants  and  represen- 
tatives of  the  original  twelve,  and  because  they  come  with 
the  same  Creed,  the  same  Gospel,  and  the  same  Sacraments, 
declaring  the  same  only  truth  of  the  name  of  Christ  and  His 
people,  because  they  occupy  in  this  land  a  position  which  no 
other  body  of  religionists  can  prove  with  legitimate  accuracy 
that  they  share  or  divide  with  them. 

On  November  5,  the  Rev.  Newman  Hall  wrote  to 
the  Bishop  about  this  speech  ;  he  said  that  he  thought 
the  speech  was 

The  true  utterance  of  a  thorough  Churchman,  who,  con- 
vinced that  he  holds  important  truth  which  others  do  not, 
can  yet  feel  and  express  himself  with  frank  courtesy  towards 
those  who  differ,  and  value  their  co-operation  as  far  as  they 
hold  truth  in  common.  ...  I  can  testify  that  I  have  ex- 
perienced greater  courtesy  from  those  Churchmen  between 
whom  and  myself  there  is  a  marked  and  plainly  announced 
difference  than  from  those  whose  opinions  have  much  more 
nearly  coincided  with  my  own.  ...  I  honour  your  Lordship 
for  all  those  great  practical  efforts  you  yourself  make  and 
encourage  in  others  to  evangelise  the  heathendom  around  us, 
and  I  pray  God  long  to  spare  your  valuable  life  to  '  provoke 
unto  love  and  to  good  works.' 

From  'The  Guardian,'  November  16  : — 

The  Bishop  of  Oxford  has  been  making  a  complete  pro- 
vincial progress.  Last  month  he  was  in  East  Anglia,  and 
yesterday  week  he  spoke  at  Lincoln  on  behalf  of  the  Society 
for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel.  He  also  gave  the 
local  School  of  Art  the  benefit  of  his  eloquence.  From 
Lincoln  the  Bishop  passed  on  to  York,  where  he  spoke  at  a 
meeting  of  unusual  importance,  having  been  addressed  by  six 
prelates,  viz.  the  Archbishops  of  Canterbury  and  York,  the 
Bishops  of  London,  Oxford,  and  Barbadoes,  and  Bishop 
Nixon.  From  York  the  Bishop  of  Oxford  went  to  Hull, 
preaching  and  speaking  at  that  town  this  week. 

On  Saturday  week  the  Bishops  of  Oxford  and  Lincoln 


154  LIFE   OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.  chap,  v 

visited  the  lace  warehouse  of  Mr.  Adams  in  Nottingham. 
After  inspecting  the  various  departments,  their  lordships 
officiated  at  the  usual  morning  service  held  at  the  private 
chapel  of  the  warehouse.  The  Bishop  of  Oxford  delivered  a 
most  impressive  sermon  to  the  workpeople. 

In  November,  the  Bishop,  writing  from  Alnwick  to 
his  son,  relates  how  he  had  been  spending  his  time  : — 

Alnwick  Castle,  November  i6. 
I  am  very  anxious  about  Basil's  health,  and  break  many 
a  night's  rest  with  the  thought  of  him  and  of  you  in  your 
lonely  distance.  I  have  been  about  the  diocese  for  work, 
and  then  went  to  help  the  Bishop  of  Lincoln  for  two  days, 
and  then  on  to  pay  a  visit  to  the  Archbishop  of  York  at 
Bishopthorpe,  returning  to  the  diocese  in  about  a  fortnight. 
...  1  hope  you  won't  be  rash  when  the  winter  comes  on, 
either  with  your  wild  beasts  or  with  the  climate.  .  .  The 
farmers  are  grumbling  terribly  at  the  price  of  wheat,  and 
feeding  stock  on  it.  The  only  things  which  keep  them  up  at 
all  are  the  price  of  wool  and  meat.  I  came  up  to  York  for 
S.  P.  G.,  and  visited  the  Andersons  at  Lea.  From  York  I 
came  on  here  to  meet  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  who  is 
here  with  two  daughters.  This  is  a  most  noble  house,  I 
suppose  the  finest  subject's  house  in  Great  Britain,  and  the 
Duke  is  furnishing  it  in  the  most  costly  way  with  carving, 
marbles,  &c.  To-morrow  I  go  homewards  to  Lord  Manvers', 
and  on  Friday  to  dear  E —  ^  to  dine  and  sleep,  and  go  on 
Saturday  after  to  a  preaching  and  Confirmation  at  Stony 
Stratford  ;  thence  to  Windsor,  &c.  How  I  wish  I  could  see 
some  of  your  grand  mountain  views  with  you  ! 

On  Friday  November  25,  the  Bishop  presided  at 
the  annual  meeting  of  the  Oxford  Diocesan  Society  for 
augmenting  the  endowments  of  small  livings.  The 
Bishop  at  this  meeting  was  helped  by  a  considerable 
number  of  distinguished  laity,  among  others  by  Mr. 
Disraeli,  who  made  a  long  speech,  in  which  he  gave  utter- 
ance to  his  Church  policy;  this  was  the  celebrated  speech 

'  His  dautrhter. 


1864.  QUALIFICATIONS  OF  THE  CLERGY.  155 

in  which  he  declared  himself  on  the  *  side  of  the  aneels.' 
The  Bishop,  who  opened  the  proceedings,  after  pointing 
out  how  the  poverty  of  the  minister  necessarily  affected 
his  power  of  work  amongst  the  laity,  went  on  to  show 
how  important  it  was  to  the  laity  that  the  clergy  should 
be  eentlemen.      He  said  : — • 

I  maintain  this,  that  the  ministry  of  the  Church  of 
England  has  been  hitherto,  and  is  at  this  time,  filled  by 
gentlemen  of  the  nation  of  England,  by  men  who  have  had 
a  gentle  education,  who  have  come  often — yea,  and  in  most 
numerous  cases — of  gentle,  and  even  of  the  highest  blood  of 
this  land,  and  who  have  entered  the  Church  with  all  that 
distinctive  formation  of  character  which  comes  from  such  an 
education  and  such  an  inheritance.  I  say  that  it  cannot 
continue  to  be  for  any  number  of  years  if  the  Clerg}',  as 
compared  with  other  liberal  professions,  are  notoriously  ill- 
paid.  It  is  perfectly  true,  of  course,  that  with  no  payment 
at  all  some  loftier  spirits  would,  for  the  love  of  souls  alone, 
devote  themselves  to  this  work  ;  but  a  great  national  estab- 
lishment cannot  reckon  on  such  extreme  cases  for  its  supply 
of  ministers.  There  maybe  a  multitude  below  that  highest 
mark  who  may  be  perfectly  qualified  to  serve  God  in  the 
ministry  of  the  Church,  but  who  yet  have  not  within  them,  it 
may  be  from  their  youth  or  other  causes,  spirits  trained  up  to 
that  point  that  they  are  contented  for  the  sake  of  that  ministry 
to  give  up  the  hope  of  family  affection  and  of  taking  in  the 
society  around  them  the  position  to  which  they  have  been 
born  as  the  sons  of  gentlemen  and  bred  as  the  sharers  of  a 
gentle  education.  At  the  present  moment,  if  the  endowments 
of  the  Church  of  England  were  divided  among  the  beneficed 
Clergy  by  an  equalizing  law  of  universal  distribution,  they 
would  not  secure  the  supply  of  gentlemen  for  the  ministry  of 
the  English  Church,  which  England  has  had  up  to  this 
time,  and  which  it  is  of  the  greatest  moment  she  should 
continue  to  have.  ...  It  is  of  the  first  moment  that  the 
leaders  of  thought  should  find  their  equals  in  education,  in 
thinking,  among  the  ministers  of  the  English  Church.  It  is 
of  the  utmost  moment  that  men  in  high  rank  should  find 


156  LIFE   OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.  chap.  v. 

standing  beside  them  in  the  ranks  of  the  Church  their  equals 
in  birth  and  their  fellows  in  education,  and,  if  anything,  it  is 
still  more  desirable  that  the  poor  of  England  should  be 
ministered  to  by  England's  gentlemen.  What  we  mean  by 
'  gentleman  '  is  just  this — it  is  that  habit  of  putting  self  down 
and  of  exalting  to  an  equality  with  himself  those  to  whom  he 
is  ministering.  It  is  just  that  which  belongs  to  the  character 
of  the  English  gentleman,  and  there  are  no  people  in  this 
country  who  feel  more  acutely,  whether  you  give  them  credit 
for  it  or  not,  the  difference  of  being  ministered  to  by  such 
a  man,  or  by  one  who — no  blame  to  him,  because  he  has 
never  had  the  opportunity  of  gaining  the  same  high  temper — 
comes  to  them  wanting  that  which  is  the  countersign  of  the 
true  English  gentleman. 

Speaking  at  a  conference  of  clergy  and  laity  at 
Reading  in  1866,  the  Bishop  thus  further  enlarges  on 
the  necessary  qualifications  of  a  clergyman ;  having 
dwelt  upon  the  usefulness  of  lay  help,  he  said  : — 

If  the  Clergy  were  shallow  in  their  views,  and  did  not 
keep  up  to  the  current  literature  which  more  or  less  bore 
upon  the  great  religious  questions  of  the  day,  they  were  not 
equal  to  their  office.  It  was  just  the  same  as  a  man  in  the 
high  medical  science,  who  only  knew  it  as  it  was  a  hundred 
years  ago,  who  did  not  understand  the  new  forms  disease  had 
taken,  and  knew  of  no  new  light  thrown  upon  the  treatment 
of  them,  and  applying  those  remedies  which  were  formerly 
used  ;  he  would  be  altogether  useless  in  his  profession — and  so 
it  was  in  the  same  degree  with  the  clergy,  they  must  know 
the  aspect  of  the  present  times,  and  they  required  time  to  study 
them. 

The  followingf  is  an  extract  from  a  letter  to  Mr. 
Gordon,  who  was  still  abroad  : — 

December  7,  1S64. 

The  Duke  (of  Newcastle)  is  an  exceeding  loss  to  us  as 

regards   all   Church  matters,  and  I  think  we  shall  find  it  out 

more  and  more  continually.     There  is  nothing  to  tell  you. 

Palmerston  seems  stronger  than  ever  ;  Gladstone,  I  think,  is 


1864.  LETTER   TO  MR.    CORDON.  1 57 

certainly  gaining  power — you  hear  now  almost  every  one  say 
he  must  be  the  future  premier,  and  such  sayings  tend  greatly 
to  accomplish  themselves.  Lord  R.  Cavendish  has  lately  been 
with  me — himself  in  all  ways.  In  Church  matters  we  are 
anxious  about  the  approaching  Colenso  appeal.  The  Chan- 
cellor will  do  all  the  evil  he  can  to  God's  truth  and  Church. 


158  LIFE   OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.  chap.  vi. 


CHAPTER   VI. 

(1865-66.) 

LETTER  TO  MR.  GORDON— PROPOSED  VISIT  TO  SOUTH  OF  FRANCE — OXFORD 
UNIVERSITY  ELECTION — CORRESPONDENCE  WITH  MR.  GLADSTONE — CUD- 
DESDON  COLLEGE  FESTIVAL — LETTER  TO  FATHER  IGNATIUS— INCREASE 
OF  THE  EPISCOPATE — ORDINATION  AT  LAVINGTON — QUEEN  EMMA— TOUR 
IN  THE  NORTH  OF  ENGLAND— THE  BISHOP'S  DIARY — JANUARY  AND  FEB- 
RUARY   1866 — LETTERS    TO    SONS — SIR   C.    ANDERSON — AND   A   CLERGYMAN. 

New  Year's  day  was  spent  at  Lavington,  where  the 
Bishop  remained  till  January  7.  The  diary  for  that 
day  is  : — 

Much  packing,  putting  away,  and  preparing.  I  rode 
down  to  the  station  ;  the  day  lovely ;  looked  back  from  the 
Common  on  my  paradise,  and  longed  to  stay.  To  Addington. 
Rode  with  the  Archbishop — he  very  poorly. 

In  February  the  Bishop  writes  to  Mr.  Gordon  : — 

What  Gladstone  is  to  head  is  all  uncertain.  Walpole  still 
thinks  that,  having  gone  a  certain  way  with  the  Radicals,  he 
will  on  some  Church  measure  wheel  round  and  break  wholly 
with  them.  Lord  Derby  is  full  of  his  Iliad,  and  bides  his 
time.  I  do  not  believe  Pam  thinks  of  retiring  :  he  means,  I 
believe,  to  dissolve  as  soon  as  the  estimates  are  voted  in  the 
summer.  We  know  not  what  will  be  the  issue  of  the  Colenso 
case  ;  if  only  the  tribunal  was  a  fair  one,  I  should  be  very 
glad  that  those  great  questions  were  thoroughly  sifted  and 
settled.  There  is  still  great  indignation  as  to  the  *  Essays 
and  Reviews  '  judgment.  The  Bishop  of  London  and  his 
chaplain  have  put  forth  a  volume  in  defence  of  the  Court  full 
of  misstatement.  The  most  interesting  book  I  have  met 
with  is  Pusey's  on  Daniel — quite  a  first-rate  book.  I  have, 
too,  been  very  much  interested  in  '  Le  Maudit '    and    '  La 


1865-66.  UNION   WITH  EASTERIV  CHURCH.  159 

Religieuse '  by  the  Abbe  Michon,  The  Russian  scheme 
halts  at  present,  but  I  have  a  floatnig  vision  of  getting  to 
Rome  for  Easter.  I  am  well,  thank  God — overworked,  but 
well ! 

The  Russian  scheme  above  alluded  to  was  for  pro- 
moting Intercourse  between  the  English  and  American 
branches  of  the  Church  and  the  Eastern  Church. 
Later  on  In  the  year  the  Bishop,  who  took  a  great 
Interest  In  this  scheme,  presided  at  a  meeting  held 
in  London,  which  was  attended  by  the  Bishop  of 
Lincoln  and  others,  who  were  equally  Interested  ; 
Prince  Orloff  being  present  as  representing  the  Russian 
Church.  The  other  plan,  that  of  spending  Easter  In 
Rome,  Is  thus  referred  to  In  a  letter  to  the  son  In 
India  : — 

The  Bishop  of  Oxford  to  R.  G.  Wilbei force. 

House  of  Lords,  April  3,  1865. 
We  had  a  most  successful  mission  this  year  to  Marlow. 
I  finished  this  day  last  week,  and  left  off  with  a  cold  on  my 
chest,  which  is  only  just  leaving  me.  I  have  been  at  Pall 
]\Iall  since.  ...  I  am  hoping  to  take  a  little  run  this  Easter 
to  see  your  uncle  William  at  Cannes — as,  if  Basil  is  reading  for 
his  final  schools,  I  can  be  better  than  usual  spared,  and  I 
think  a  little  South  of  France  air  would  get  rid  of  this 
bronchial  irritation  more  than  anything  else. 

Why  the  Bishop  gave  up  the  proposed  trip  Is  shown 
by  this  letter  : — 

London,  April  17  (Easter  Monday). 

All  was  ready  for  my  start  to  Cannes,  down  even  to  the 
sea-sickness  powders,  when  my  companions  quite  unin- 
tentionally failed  me,  and  business  multiplied  in  the  diocese, 
and  I  did  not  like  leaving  Basil ;  and  as  it  was  to  be  a 
pleasure  seeking  (for  1  had  quite  a  passionate  longing  to  see 
spring  break  out  in  the  South  of  France),  I  thought  Provi- 
dence seemed  to  say,  Give  it  up.     So  after  tossing  about  all 


l6o  TJFE  OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.  chap.  vr. 

one  night,  and  thinking  it  over,  I  gave  it  up,  and  wrote  in- 
stead to  make  a  dozen  diocesan  engagements.  I  was 
happier,  only  I  feared  it  might  hurt  your  uncle  William  ;  but 
to-day  I  have  a  very  kind  letter  from  him,  sorry,  but  quite 
understanding.  So  I  have  stayed  alone  here  to  preach  my 
sermon  yesterday  at  the  Chapel  Royal,  and  I  do  not  think  I 
ever  did  it  with  greater  comfort  ;  all  my  experience  proves  to 
me  that  doing  one's  duty  is  happiness. 

I  go  down  to  Taplow  to-day  ;  to  Nuneham  to-morrow  ;  to 
Cuddesdon  Wednesday,  and  stay  there,  except  going  out  to 
preach  at  Witney  on  Sunday,  till  Friday  28th.  Next  week 
Archdeacons  and  Rural  Deans  come  for  the  annual  gathering. 

Every  one  is  abusing  to  the  utmost  ;    he  is  a  clever 

owl,  or,  as  I  overheard  one  journeyman  painter  say  to 
another  as  I  walked  down  from  Church  to-day,  '  He's  a  con- 
founded uppish  bloke  ! '  I  long  for  another  letter.  Ever 
since  I  knew  you  would  be  out  on  your  shooting  excursions  I 
have  prayed  with  all  my  might  against  the  tigers  every  single 
day. 

Near  Shiplake,  July  2,  1865. 

My  dearest  Reginald, — Here  I  am  with  Basil  beside  me 
in  the  train  going  down  to  preach  two  sermons  at  Shiplake 
and  Wargrave  to-day.  .  .  .  We  are  all  very  full  of  the  coming 
elections.  I  am  very  much  afraid  that  Gladstone  may  lose 
his  seat :  they  seem  neck  and  neck,  and  no  one  can  tell  how 
the  voting  papers  will  affect  the  election.  Old  Palmerston  is 
breaking,  and  I  think  it  very  doubtful  if  he  can  meet  another 
Parliament. 

Glenthorne,  July  16,  1S65. 

I  am  down  here,  having  come  yesterday  with  Bas.  on  a 
visit  to  a  cousin  of  the  Bishop  of  Salisbury,  who,  with  one  of 
his  boys,  is  the  only  one  besides  who  is  here.  It  is  a  beautiful 
spot  on  the  sea-shore,  just  at  the  Somersetshire  end  of  Devon, 
on  the  side  of  a  very  steep  hill  with  the  woods  setting  down 
into  the  sea.  I  have  had  very  hard  work  lately,  and  just 
finished  our  annual  Conference  at  Oxford,  and  am  come 
here  till  next  W^ednesday — when  I  have  to  go  away  in  order 
to  preach  at  Chichester  Cathedral — for  a  little  change  and 
rest.     I  have  just  been  praying  for  you  this  beautiful  Sunday 


1865.  ELECTION  FOR   OXFORD.  161 

morning,  with  my  window  open  on   the  sea.     How   prayer 
does  unite  us,  however  far  we  may  be  parted  in  space  ! 

The  following  letter  of  the  Bishop  to  Mr.  Glad- 
stone, refers  to  the  election  for  the  University  of 
Oxford,  which  Mr.  Gladstone  had  represented  for 
eighteen  years.  The  opposition  to  him  was  headed 
by  Archdeacon  Denison  on  account  of  the  part  taken 
by  Mr.  Gladstone  on  the  Education  question.  That 
Mr.  Gladstone  was  defeated  by  Mr.  Hardy  is  well 
known,  but  that  he  was  defeated  by  those  members  of 
the  constituency  who  had  the  least  interest  in  educa- 
tion, is  not  so  well  known.  It  is  a  fact,  however,  that 
nearly  all  the  professors,  tutors,  lecturers,  and  fellows 
voted  in  the  minority,  and  were  outnumbered  by  the 
country  clergy  : — 

The  Bishop  of  Oxford  to  the  Right  Hon. 
W.  E.  Gladstone. 

Glenthorne,  Lynmouth,  July  iS,  1 865. 

My  dear  Gladstone, — I  have  just  received  the  account  of 
the  numbers  polled  at  Oxford  up  to  last  night,  and  I  cannot 
forbear  expressing  to   you   my  grief  and  indignation  at  the 
result.     It  is  needless  for  me  to  say  that  everything  I  could 
with  propriety  do  I  did  heartily,  to   save  our  University  this 
great  loss  and  dishonour,  as  w-ell  as  from  a  loving  honour  of 
you.     But  the  truth  is  that,  except  on  the  footing  which  Sir 
R.  Peel's  last  contest  destroyed,  the  University  of  Oxford  is 
about  the  worst  constituency  existing  for  a  man  before  his 
age  in  intellectual  development  and  above  it  in  self-respect. 
Of  course,  if  half  of  these  men  had  known  what  I  know  of 
your  real  devotion    to    our   Church,  that   would    have    out- 
weighed their  hatred  of  a  Government  which  gave  Waldegrave 
to  Carlisle,  and  Baring  to  Durham,  and  the  youngest  Bishop 
on  the  Bench  to  York,  and  supported  Westbury  in  seeking  to 
deny  for  England  the  faith  of  our  Lord.     But  they  could  not 
be  made  to  understand  the  truth,  and  have  inflicted  on  the 
VOL.  III.  M 


1 62  LIFE  OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.         chap.  vr. 

University  and  the  Church^  the  gross  indignity  of  rejecting 
the  best,  noblest,  and  truest  son  of  each,  in  order  to  punish 
Shaftesbury  and  Westbury.  You  were  too  great  for  them.  In 
all  heartiest  affection  and  honour  I  am,  my  dear  Gladstone, 
most  truly  yours,  o   Ovn 

Mr.  Gladstone's  reply  is  as  follows  : — 

Hawarden,  July  21,  1865. 

My  dear  Bishop  of  Oxford, — Your  letter  comes  amid 
many  and  most  kind  ones,  but  I  am  deeply  sensible  of  its 
overflowing  kindness.  I  do  not  doubt  that  this  to  me  great 
event  is  all  for  good,  and  the  consolations  of  cordial  support, 
indulgent  judgment,  and  warm  affection  are  given  me  in 
abundance — in  more  than  abundance  by  you. 

Do  not  conceal  from  yourself  that  my  hands  are  much 
weakened.  It  was  only  as  representing  Oxford  that  a  man 
whose  opinions  are  disliked  and  suspected  could  expect  or 
could  have  a  title  to  be  heard.  I  look  upon  myself  now  as  a 
person  wholly  extraneous  on  one  great  class  of  questions; 
with  respect  to  legislative  and  Cabinet  matters  I  am  still 
an  unit. 

But  as  far  as  my  will,  my  time,  my  thoughts  are  concerned 
— they  are  where  they  ever  were. 

I  have  had  too  much  of  personal  collision  with  Lord 
Westbury  to  be  a  fair  judge  in  his  case  ;  but,  in  your  con- 
demnation of  him,  as  respects  attacks  upon  Christian  doc- 
trine, do  not  forget  either  what  coadjutors  he  has  had,  or 
with  what  painful  and  lamentable  indifference  not  only  the 
public,  but  so  many  of  the  Clergy,  so  many  of  the  warmest 
religionists,  looked  on. 

Do  not  join  with  others  in  praising  me  because  I  am  not 
angry,  only  sorry,  and  that  deeply.  For  my  revenge,  which 
I  do  not  desire,  but  would  baffle  if  I  could — all  lies  in  that 
little  word  '  future  '  in  my  address,  which  I  wrote  with  a  con- 
sciousness that  it  is  deeply  charged  with  meaning,  and  that 
that  which  shall  come  will  come. 

There  have  been  two  great  deaths,  or  transmigrations  of 
spirit,  in  my  political  existence — one,  very  slow,  the  breaking 
of  ties   with  my  original  party ;   the  other,  very  short  and 


l86s.  AN  ORACULAR  SENTENCE.  1 6 


v) 


sharp,   the  breaking   of  the  tie  with    Oxford.      There   will 
probably  be  a  third,  and  no  more. 

Again,  my  dear  Bishop,  I  thank  and  thank  you  for  bear- 
ing with  my  waywardness,  and  manifesting,  in  the  day  of 
need,  your  confidence  and  attachment.     Ever  affectionately 

y^"^^^'  W.  E.  Gladstone. 

To  this  affectionate  answer  the  Bishop  thus 
replied  :• — ■ 

July  24,  1865. 

My  dear  Gladstone, — I  thank  you  very  specially  for  your 
kind  language  to  me. 

There  is  one  expression  of  yours  which  I  wish  I  were 
quite  sure  I  understood  aright — *  There  will  probably  be  a 
third,  and  no  more.'  And  now  will  you  let  me  once  more 
say  that  your  present  position  seems  to  me  energetically  to 
require  you  to  take  (when  the  occasion  comes)  the  step 
which  Canning  took  when  he  claimed  the  Premiership.  I 
put  aside  Church  considerations  because  they  are  so  obvious 
that  they  need  no  statement.  But  politically  for  yourself — 
and  that  is,  I  believe,  the  same  thing  as  for  our  country — this 
seems  to  me  a  paramount  necessity-:  your  charge  is  what 
Pitt's  was,  it  is  to  make  England  wealthy,  to  diffuse  that 
wealth  specially  among  the  working  classes,  to  enlarge  and 
to  purify  our  institutions.  In  doing  this,  if  you  early  put 
yourself  at  the  head  of  a  Government  and  disclose  your 
views,  you  may  command  an  immense  support  from  all  real 
patriots  on  all  sides,  and  you  will  be  true  to  yourself,  to  your 
earliest  and  to  your  present  noble  self.  You  are  not  a 
Radical,  and  yet  you  may,  by  political  exigencies,  if  you 
submit  to  be  second,  be  led  into  heading  a  Radical  party 
until  its  fully  developed  aims  assault  all  that  you  most  value 
in  our  country,  and  it  (the  Radical  party)  turns  upon  you  and 
rends  you.  You  have  never  had  fair  play,  or  you  would  now 
have  a  vast  ostensible  following.  All  the  opposition  you  would 
have  to  meet  would  be  at  first  if  you  took  your  proper  place. 

Pardon  me  for  venturing  on  all  this  ;  your  lovingkindness 
is  answerable  for  it.  I  am,  my  dear  Gladstone,  very  affcc- 
tionately  yours,  g^  ^^^^^^ 


164  LIFE  OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.         chap.  vr. 

The  Right  Hon.  JV.  E.  Gladstone  to  the 
Bishop  oj  Oxford. 

Oshoine,  July  28,  1S65. 
My  dear  Bishop  of  Oxford, — The  oracular  sentence  has 
little  bearing  on  present  affairs  or  prospects,  and  may  stand 
in  its  proper  darkness.  But  the  hortatory  part  of  your  letter, 
coming,  as  it  does,  from  you,  with  such  sincerity,  such 
authority,  and  such  affection,  I  must  not  pass  unnoticed.  I 
think  that  if  you  had  the  same  means  of  estimating  my 
position,  jointly  with  my  faculties,  as  I  have,  you  would  be  of 
a  different  opinion.  It  is  my  fixed  determination  never  to 
take  any  step  whatever  to  raise  myself  to  a  higher  level  in 
official  life  ;  and  this,  not  on  grounds  of  Christian  self-denial, 
which  would  hardly  apply,  but  on  the  double  ground,  first,  of 
my  total  ignorance  of  my  capacity,  bodily  or  mental,  to  hold 
such  a  higher  level  ;  and  secondly- — perhaps  I  might  say 
especially — because  I  am  certain  that  the  fact  of  my  seeking 
it  would  seal  my  doom  in  taking  it.  This  is  a  reason  of  a 
very  practical  kind  ;  every  day  brings  me  fresh  evidence  of 
its  force  and  soundness.     Ever  affectionately  yours, 

W.  E.  Gladstone. 

The  annual  festival  of  Cuddesdon  was  held  on 
June  13.     The  diary  for  which  day  is  : — - 

Early  Communion.  Breakfast,  and  second  service  ;  Arch- 
bishop of  York  preached  a  good  sermon.  About  with 
visitors,  and  lunch  in  tent— all  very  hearty.  Evening  service 
at  six. 

The  Archbishop  of  York  spoke  twice  :  first  return- 
ing thanks  for  his  own  health  proposed  by  the  Bishop, 
and  secondly  proposing  the  Bishop's  health.  In  the 
first  of  these  speeches  he  said  that  his  mind  had  under- 
gone a  great  change  with  regard  to  the  usefulness  of 
Cuddesdon  College.  He  had  at  one  time,  with  other 
members  of  the  University,  doubted  the  prudence  of 
founding  such  an  institution  ;    that  feeling,   however^ 


1865.  CUDDESDOX  COLLEGE  FESTIVAL.  165 

had  long  passed  away  both  from  his  mind,  and  also,  he 
believed,  from  that  of  Oxford.  Cuddesdon  was  now 
established  beyond  all  cavil  as  a  real  working  place, 
and  as  a  true  handmaid  to  the  University.  The 
second  speech  referred  not  only  to  the  Bishop's  working 
power,  but  to  his  ubiquity.      He  said  that — 

Every  man  who  left  his  impress  on  the  age  was  many- 
sided.  This  was  eminently  a  characteristic  of  their  Bishop. 
See  him  now,  and  you  would  say  he  shone  most  as  a  genial 
and  ready  host  ;  but  follow  him  to  his  work  to-morrow — that 
is,  if  you  will  take  the  chance  of  having  to  get  up  at  half- 
past  five  and  to  travel  a  hundred  miles  by  rail — and  you 
would  say  that  he  had  given  his  whole  attention  to  pulpit 
eloquence.  Ask  some  friend  to  write  you  word  of  his  after- 
noon's occupations — for  you  will  despair  of  being  able  to 
follow  him  fast  enough  yourself — and  you  will  hear  that 
he  is  presiding  with  the  utmost  tact  and  success  over  some 
difficult  meeting  or  troublesome  committee.  No  wonder  the 
newspapers  tell  us  every  now  and  then  that  his  health  is 
failing,  and  that  he  is  ordered  off  to  the  South  of  France  for  a 
year!  But  we  may  comfort  ourselves  with  the  thought  that 
there  is  an  easier  remedy  :  he  is  now  doing  the  work  of  six 
men  ;  he  has  but  to  sink  down  awhile  to  the  work  of  two,  and 
that  will  be  as  good  as  rest  to  him  ! 

The  next  letter  explains  itself.  Suffice  it  to  say 
it  was  written  to  Mr,  Lyne,  the  c'erg-\'man  who  was 
better  known  under  the  name  of  '  Father  Ignatius ' 
than  any  other.  It  is  hardly  necessary  to  add  that  he 
neglected  the  good  and  earnest  advice  the  Bishop  gave 
him  : — 

The  BisJiop  of  Oxford  to  the  Rev.  y .  L.  Lyne. 

r.roiigliton  Castle,  Eanbiiry,  June  5,  1865. 

My  dear  Sir, — Your  letter  raises  some  questions  to  which 
it  would  not,  in  my  judgment,  be  right  for  me  to  reply.  I 
should  not  be  justified  in  pronouncing  any  opinion  on  what 


1 66  LIFE   OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.         chap.  vi. 

the  Bishop  of  Norwich  does  in  administering  his  diocese. 
Si.ich  an  interference  would  be  in  me  a  violation  of  the 
Church's  order.  But  this  much  I  may  say  :  that  no  one  can 
be  repelled  from  Holy  Communion  in  his  own  parish  church, 
except  upon  a  legal  ground.  .  .  .  But  now  will  you  let  me,  as 
you  have  consulted  me,  speak  my  own  mind  to  you.  Watching 
your  course,  so  far  as  I  have  been  able  to  do  it  from  a  distance,  I 
have  come  to  such  conclusions  as  the  following  :  i.  That  God 
has  given  you  great  energy,  great  powers  of  usefulness,  and  a 
noble  spirit  of  self-devotion  to  His  service.  That  the  present 
day  specially  needs  such  gifts,  and  that  had  you  also  the 
wisdom  which  is  profitable  to  direct,  there  is  hardly  any 
limit  to  the  service  you  might  render  to  Him,  and  to  your 
brethren  in  His  Church.  2.  But  that  the  greater  part  of 
this  usefulness  you  are  flinging  hopelessly  away,  {a)  Your 
adoption  of  a  dress,  never  suited  to  English  habits — and  now 
preeminently  unsuitable — is  a  sacrifice  of  the  kernel  to  the 
shell  such  as  I  have  hardly  ever  seen  equalled,  {b)  That  in 
adopting  this  startling  exterior,  you  are  acting  in  direct  oppo- 
sition to  the  principle  on  which  the  Order  you  have  assumed 
did  act.  For  they  took  the  dress  to  help  the  work.  You 
mar  the  work  to  have  the  dress.  In  this  merely  outward 
thing  I  am  bound  to  say  that  I  see  the  key  to  all  your  real 
hindrances.  You  are  sacrificing  everywhere  the  great  reality 
for  which  you  have  sacrificed  yourself  to  the  puerile  imitation 
of  a  past  phase  of  service  which  it  is  just  as  impossible  for  you 
to  revive  in  England  as  it  would  be  for  you  to  resuscitate  an 
Egyptian  mummy  and  set  it  upon  the  throne  of  the  Pharaohs. 
Now,  my  dear  sir,  all  this  I  fear,  unless  you  can  be  persuaded 
to  review  your  whole  position,  w^ill  make  your  life  useless. 
But  even  this  is  not  all.  I  believe  that  colleges  of  clergymen, 
living  together  and  acting  under  the  parochial  clergy,  might 
meet  many  of  our  great  spiritual  wants  ;  further,  I  believe 
that  brotherhoods  of  unordained  men  not  in  Holy  Orders 
might  be  of  most  excellent  use  ;  but  if  \'0u  persist  in  your 
present  line  you  will  indeed  make  it  practically  impossible 
that  for  another  generation  such  efforts  should  succeed.  I 
therefore  earnestly  beseech  you  for  your  own  sake,  for  the 
sake  of  those  you  would  fain  benefit,  and  for  the  sake  of  the 


1865.  INCREASE   OF  THE  EPISCOPATE.  167 

very  cause  you  have  espoused,  that  you  would  reconsider 
your  whole  course,  and  be  brave  enough  to  follow  the  advice 
which  I  believe  every  sober-minded  man  would  give,  and 
enter  on  it  anew  with  all  its  old  energy,  and  purged  from  its 
destructive  elements.     I  am,  my  dear  Sir,  most  truly  yours, 

S.    OXON. 

In  June  the  Bishop  was  laid  up  with  a  feverish 
attack  for  three  or  four  days.  On  the  23rd  the  diary 
entry  is  : — 

A  poor  night  again,  yet  better.  S.P.G.  Meeting.  House 
of  Lords,  and  spoke  on  increase  of  Bishops.     Satisfied  people. 

The  subject  here  alluded  to  was  the  petition  from 
Clergy  and  Laity  presented  by  Lord  Lyttelton  for  an 
increase  of  the  Episcopate.  An  extract  is  given  from 
the  Bishop's  speech  in  answer  to  Lord  Shaftesbury, 
who  had  said  that  an  increase  of  the  Episcopate  could 
only  be  made  at  the  expense  of  the  Parochial  system. 
The  Bishop  said  :  — 

If  there  was  no  Bishop  of  London  there  would  be  no 
Bishop  of  London's  fund.  The  same  might  be  said  in  respect 
of  the  Bishop  of  Winchester  and  other  members  of  the 
Episcopal  body.  Where  would  these  funds  have  been  if 
there  had  been  no  Bishop  to  urge  and  superintend  the 
collection  of  the  money  .^  That  was  arguing  the  question  on 
the  lowest  ground,  but  if  they  could  show  that  there  were 
large  districts  of  country  which  were  not  sufficiently  supplied 
with  Episcopal  overlooking,  they  might  say  they  wanted,  by 
increasing  the  Bishops,  to  increase  the  shepherds  under  them, 
and  the  folds  under  those  shepherds.  The  efficiency  of  , 
diocesan  management  did  not  depend  merely  on  the  multipli- 
cation of  clergy  or  of  churches,  important  as  were  these 
elements  of  success.  It  depended  more  on  the  spirit  in  which 
the  parishes  were  worked,  in  which  the  pulpits  were  filled,  in 
which  the  cottages  were  visited  ;  and  it  is  the  Bishop  who 
must  be  the  main  instrument  in  encouraging  the  zealous,  in 
stirring  up  the  faint-hearted,  in  animating  the  despondent  ;  he 


1 68  LIFE   OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.         chap.  vi. 

must  be  to  his  clerc^y  the  example  and  the  mainspnng  of  holy 
living  and  dying  for  the  people  committed  to  their  care. 

The  Bishop  held  his  September  Ordination  at 
Lavington.  On  the  Saturday  before  the  Ordination 
one  who  had  been  ordained  deacon  by  the  Bishop  of 
Chichester,  came  over  with  his  uncle — an  old  friend 
of  the  Bishop's.  His  account  of  the  visit  is  noticeable 
as  showing  the  Bishop's  great  geniality  of  manner  with 
those  with  whom  he  happened  to  be  thrown  in  contact, 
even  when  he  was  but  slightly  acquainted  with  them  : — ■ 

I  was  struck,  first,  by  the  Bishop's  wonderful  versatility 
and  powers  of  conversation. 

In  walking  over  the  breezy  pastures  of  his  estate,  his  con- 
versation was  almost  entirely  one  long  '  Hymn  of  Praise  '  to 
the  God  and  the  beauties  of  Nature. 

Among  other  things,  he  said:  'If  it  were  mail  s  duty  io 
settle  at  Lavington,  and  enjoy  this  peaceful  atmosphere,  these 
balmy  breezes,  these  beautiful  views,  to  cultivate  one's  farm, 
and  tend  one's  garden,  who  zvoidd  zvish  to  go  to  tozun  ?  ' 

Then,  as  I  walked  by  his  side,  on  my  saying  I  was  a 
student  of  botany,  he  instantly  put  my  powers — I  was  but  in 
my  twenty-third  year — to  the  test,  by  asking  with  which  of 
the  rare  wild  flowers  of  the  Sussex  Weald  and  Downs  I  was 
acquainted  .'*  On  my  confessing  that  I  knew  nothing  of  the 
Sussex  Jlora,  but  was  going  to  a  curacy  in  Sussex,  and  intended 
to  cultivate  there  this  one  of  my  favourite  pursuits,  he  said  : 
'  You  will  find  your  love  for  Nature  one  of  your  greatest 
blessings  and  safeguards  in  a  country  parish.  Read  theo- 
logical works,  but  not  those  of  professed  polemics  ;  above  all 
read  your  Bible.  And  when  you  have  comforted  the  sick  and 
sorrowful,  and  can  call  an  honest  hour  your  own,  go  out  and 
botanize  ;  study  natural  history — you  have  a  love  for  it, 
and  do  not  paralyse  your  simple  love  for  nature.' 

Then,  pointing  to  a  small  plantation,  he  said  :  '  That  is 
one  of  my  chiklren  ;  I  planted  it,  and  I  love  no  spot  so  well 
as  the  turf  around  this  plantation.' 

And  then — we  were  nearing  the  parish  church,  or  that  of 


1865.  ORDLXATION  AT  LAVIXGTOX.  169 

some  neighbouring  parish  (Archdeacon  Randall,  I  remember, 
was  the  preacher,  the  Bishop  reading  the  second  lesson),  the 
Bishop  suddenly  plucked  a  leaf  from  the  turf  and  said  :  '  This 
is  one  of  the  rarer  wild  flowers,'  and  instantly  gave  me  off- 
hand a  list  of  some  of  the  rarer  flora  to  be  found  in  Sussex. 

I  had  just  been  ordained  by  the  then  Bishop  of  Chichester; 
at  the  Ordination  only  one  other  gentleman  was  ordained 
(Deacon's  orders)  with  myself  On  the  Bishop's  hearing  this 
he  said  :  'Dear  good  Bishop,  if  only  I  had  known  iti  time,  I 
would  have  made  him  turn  you  and  the  other  candidate  both 
over  to  me.  You  had  everything  but  one  —  nameh-,  the 
sympathy  that  comes  from  being  ordained  amid  a  goodly 
number,  tlie  same  sympathy  of  common  hopes  and  fears 
that  makes  praying  in  the  Church  easier  than  private  prayer 
to  some  natures.     I  wish  I  had  known  all  this  in  time.' 

One  more  point  struck  me  :  the  kindly,  warm-hearted  way 
in  which,  outside  the  church  doors,  the  Bishop  stayed  to  talk 
with  farmer  or  labouring  man  ;  constantly  shaking  hands  most 
affectionately  with  them.  My  remembrance  of  his  witty 
conversation  at  dinner,  on  the  Saturday  night  preceding  this 
Sunday,  is  this  :  that  he  had,  for  the  time,  completely  thrown 
aside  and  forgotten  the  seriousness  of  the  day  ;  he  had  been 
having  his  private  interviews  with  each  one  of  the  candidates 
for  Ordination. 

His  conversation  was  one  flow  of  wit;  the  party  at  table 
consisting  of  his  daughter-in-law,  his  chaplain,  the  candidates 
for  Ordination,  the  Rev.  J.  W.  Burgon,  and  one  or  two  other 
clergymen  of  distinction.  The  conversation  turned  upon  some 
clergyman  in  his  own  diocese,  well  known  to  the  Bishop  and 
Mr.  Burgon  ;  and  the  latter  said,  laughingly,  '  Well,  but  my 
Lord,  after  all,  he  is  a  very  sound  man  ! '  '  He  is,  indeed, 
with  a  vengeance,'  said  the  Bishop  ;  '  if  you  mean  vox  et 
pnvtcrea  nihil.  Do  you  know,  Burgon,'  he  added,  quaintly 
and  archly  enough,  '  I  never  hear  the  north-west  wind  blow 

on  Sunday  but  what  it  troubles  me  to  think  that  poor is 

preaching } ' 

The  gentleman  who  supplied  the  foregoing  narrative 
relates  a  remarkable  Instance  of  the  Bishop's  power  of 


170  LIFE   OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.         chap.  vi. 

recollection.  Years  after  this  meeting  the  Bishop  was 
hokhng  a  Confirmation  at  a  small  parish  in  Surre)-, 
where  his  former  acquaintance  had  been  helping  the 
Incumbent.  He  came  into  the  vestry  surpliced,  with 
several  other  clergy.  The  Bishop,  as  he  himself 
describes,   'singled  me  out  in  a  moment.     "You   are 

Mr.  ,  but  how  you  are  altered.     Well,  it  is  many 

years  since  we  met ;  let  me  shake  you  by  the  hand." 
Not  one  man  in  a  thousand,  I  fancy,  would  have  known 
me,  so  much  had  I  altered  since  I  had  last  seen  the 
Bishop.  It  struck  me  at  the  moment,  he  would  make 
a  fij'st-rate  detective.  But,  he  often  said  that,  once 
seen,  he  never  forgot  a  lace.' 

The  Bishop  of  Oxfoi'd  to  R.  G.  Wilberforce, 

Sunchcombe,  August  3,  1865. 

The  last  post  brought  me  nothing  from  you.  I  want  to 
hear,  for  I  have  had  too  many  losses  not  to  have  a  heart  easily 
shaken,  even  though  I  have,  I  trust,  committed  indeed  my 
precious  ones  to  God's  great  keeping.  ...  I  am  on  my  way 
to  hold  a  great  confirmation  of  sailors  for  the  Bishop  of 
Exeter  at  Plymouth  next  week,  and  then  go  back  to 
Cuddesdon  to  receive  the  Queen  of  the  Sandwich  Islands. 
Then  the  next  week  we  are  to  go  to  Lavington,  and  have,  I 
hope,  some  six  weeks  together  there.  I  am  greatly  looking 
forward  to  this,  only  I  so  long  to  have  you  also  when  we  are 
there. 

The  Bishop  of  Oxford  to  R.  G.  JViibe? force. 

Palace,  Salisbury,  August  17. 

I  am  come  for  S.P.G.  here,  and  go  back  Saturday  for 
another  day's  work  in  the  Diocese,  and  then  join  them  at 
Lavington,  where  I  shall  want  you  exceedingly.  We  have 
had  the  Queen  of  the  Sandwich  Islands  at  Cuddesdon.  We 
were  all  very  much  pleased  with  her,  and  she  is  coming  again 
to  us  at  Lavington  for  two  days.  She  is  about  as  dark  as  a 
Portuguese,  with  nice  features  and  expression  of  countenance. 


1865.  QUEEN  EMMA.  171 

Things  look  rather  gloomy  with  us.  A  great  part  of  the 
harvest  out,  and  the  wet  incessant,  and  the  wheat  growing; 
the  cattle  dying  fearfully  of  murrain.^ 

Queen  Emma,  the  widow  of  the  King  who  in- 
vited and  promoted  the  founding  of  the  English 
Church  in  Hawaii,  which  had  been  accomplished 
almost  solely  by  the  Bishop,  visited  England  in  order 
to  raise  funds  for  the  maintenance  of  that  Church. 
In  furtherance  of  this  object  the  Bishop  went  a 
tour  round  the  crreat  manufacturincj  districts  of  the 
North  with  the  Oueen,  holding-  meetino^s  at  most  of 
the  large  towns  with  varied  success.  The  Bishop's 
diary  records  1 80/.  at  one  place,  200/.  at  another  ; 
in  all,  this  northern  tour  realised  some  3,000/.  The 
following  letters  to  Sir  Charles  Anderson  describe 
part  of  this  expedition,  at  the  end  of  which,  it  is  little 
to  be  wondered  at,  the  Queen  was  so  completely  ex- 
hausted that  she  could  not  be  present.  Later  on  in 
the  year  the  Queen  was  the  Bishop's  guest  at  Laving- 
ton,  from  which  place  she  went  to  Brighton  for  another 
meeting. 

The  following  letter  with    the   Bishop's  postscript 
ows   '<. 
visit : — 


throws  a  lisfht  on   his  doinsfs    durino^   this  Yorkshire 


The  Rev.  y .  R.  Woodford  to  Sir  Charles  Anderson. 

Deanery,  York,  October  13,  1865. 

My  dear  Sir  Charles, — The  Bishop  of  Oxford  being  very 
busy  on  the  other  side  of  the  table,  has  deputed  me  to  tell 
you  about  his  recent  doings,  leaving  him  to  cap  the  talc  with 
a  postscript. 

I  met  him  on  Monday  at  Sir  L.  Pilkington's.    On  Tuesday 

'  The  Eishop  wrote  for  private  use  a  prayer  to  be  used  for  relief  from  the 
cattle  plague,  which  was  devastating  England.  Among  the  many  who  wrote  to 
the  Bishop  thanking  him  fur  what  he  had  done  \vas  Lord  Shaftesbury,  who  ordered 
1,000  copies  to  be  printed  and  distributed  among  all  the  tenants  on  his  estate. 


172  LIFE   OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.         chap.  vr. 

there  was  a  great  harvest  festival  at  Royston  ;  from  which, 
on  the  following  day,  we  proceeded  to  Leeds  to  receive  Queen 
Emma  ;  a  magnificent  meeting  in  the  Town  Hall — some 
5,000  people  assembled.  The  Mayor  gave  a  luncheon,  but, 
being  a  Unitarian,  escorted  the  Queen  and  Bishop  to  the 
Hall,  and  then  withdrew.  Dr.  Atlay  presided.  The  Bishop 
was  almost  sole  speaker,  and  most  effective.  I  have  never 
seen  a  Yorkshire  meeting  before,  and  certainly  in  heartiness 
and  enthusiasm  we  cannot  parallel  it  in  the  South-West. 
After  the  Leeds  meeting.  Queen,  Bishop,  &c.,  came  on  here 
by  special  train,  and  are  guests  of  the  Dean.  Yesterday  was 
the  meeting  of  choirs  in  the  Minster  ;  they  mustered  about 
600  voices,  and  sang  remarkably  well — far  better  than  I  had 
heard  at  similar  gatherings.  To-day  another  meeting  for  the 
Hawaian  Mission  ;  the  Dean  in  the  chair  ;  the  Bishop  again 
chief  speaker,  and  I  think  he  spoke  more  magnificently  than 
I  have  ever  heard  even  Jiiin  speak  before.  He  (the  Bishop)  is 
well,  I  hope,  in  spite  of  all  work.     Yours  most  truly, 

J.  R.  Woodford. 

P.S. — My  dearest  Anderson, — I  asked  Woodford  to  write 
you  an  outline.  He  preached  a  noble  sermon  at  the  choral 
gathering  on  the  blessedness  of  preparing  for  the  work  of  the 
Lord,  on  David  making  preparation  for  the  Temple  building. 
All  has  been  most  pleasant  here,  the  Dean  charming. 
Plenty  of  Yorkshire.  The  Wenlocks,  Fox,  &c.  &c.,  and 
Archbishop  away  on  visitation.  Many  rich  Yorkshire  talk- 
ings  at  Wakefield,  e.g.  a  young  middle-class  man,  whom  I  had 
talked  to  on  the  platform,  rushing  out  into  the  rain,  when  Sir 
Lionel's  carriage  was  carrying  me  off,  with,  '  Eye,  but  I  musst 
shaake  hands,'  and  putting  his  in  at  the  window !  I  was 
very  glad  to  find  Willie  so  esteemed,  and  apparently  useful, 
I  am  very  sorry  that  I  have  not  got  to  you.  I  go  to-day  to 
Duncombe  Park  till  Tuesday ;  on  Tuesday  to  Scarborough 
for  a  Hawaian  meeting,  and  then  on  to  Hackness  (the  John- 
stones')  with  Queen  Emma — there  stay  Wednesday  ;  Thurs- 
day go  on,  via  York  and  Stockport,  to  Lyme  (Mr.  Legh's) ; 
and  on  Friday  to  Lord  Derby's  until  Tuesday  after,  when  I 
go  to  Lord  de  Tabley's  to  meet  Queen  Emma ;  and  we  are 


1865.  LETTERS   TO  SONS.  I  73 

to  go  Thursday  and  Friday  to  Liverpool  and  Manchester, 
and  I  am  to  preach  on  Sunday  in  Manchester  Cathedral. 
I  am  your  very  affectionate,  q   n  - 

The  Bishop  of  Oxford  to  R.  G.   Wilberforce. 

September  17,  1S65. 

My  dear  dear  Fellow, —  How  I  shall  long  to  see  you  again  \ 
May  God  be  pleased  to  give  us  a  happy  meeting.  Since  I 
wrote  last  I  have  come  sixty,  which  seems  very  near  seventy, 
and  that  very  near  the  end.  It  is  quite  curious  how  such 
things  affect  us — I  seem  ten  years  older  !  I  am  just  off  for 
Salisbury  Cathedral,  where  I  shall  be  praying  for  you. 

From  Knowsley  the  Bishop  writes  to  his  son 
Ernest  on  October  2 1  : — 

I  have  just  got  by  second  post  your  dear  note  of  yesterday- 
It  has  so  cheered  :  I  felt  low  and  miserable.  I  have  had  a 
little  bit  of  a  walk  to-day,  and  it  was  delightful ;  I  walked 
with  Frank  Hopwood,  who  is  a  capital  clergyman,  into  the 
Deer  Park — a  wild  place,  full  of  oaks,  ferns,  and  a  large  piece 
of  water,  red  deer,  &c.  &c.,  and  grand  distant  views.  Lord 
Derby  has  been  very  pleasant ;  very  free  in  talk  about 
politics ;  and,  having  lived  all  his  life  in  the  full  stream  of 
things,  has  his  mind  quite  full.  You  know  I  always  enjoy 
men  of  that  sort. 

The  Bishop  of  Oxford  to  R.  G.  Wilberforce. 

Elenheim,  November  2. 

I  have  been  a  sort  of  tour  in  the  manufacturing  district 
for  the  Hawaian  Mission,  with  Queen  Emma,  whom  Basil 
calls,  of  course,  the  Queen  of  Sheba.  We  had  capital  meet- 
ings at  Leeds,  Manchester,  Liverpool,  York,  Scarborough. 
Now  I  am  here  with  a  large  party— Due  d'Aumale,  Lord 
Hardwicke,  &c.  &c.  &c.— to  celebrate  Blandford's  coming  of 
age.  The  Duke  is  doing  it  very  handsomely,  and  I  want  to 
back  him  up  in  everything.  He  is  quite  a  capital  fellow  really. 
Dearest  Bas.  is  to  be  married  on  Tuesday,  November  28, 
Dear  fellow  ;  how  earnestly  I  pray  it  may  be  for  his  o-ood. 


1 74  LIFE   OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.         chap.  vi. 

In  November  the  Bishop  was  elected  a  Trustee  of 
the  British  Museum — the  practice  then  was  that  three 
names  were  submitted  to  the  Trustees,  out  of  which 
number  they  selected  one.  On  the  Bishop  being 
elected,  Earl  Russell  said  :  '  I  cordially  concur  in  the 
nomination  of  the  Bishop  of  Oxford  as  Trustee  of  the 
British  Museum.  No  more  fit  appointment  could  be 
made.' 

The  Bishop  of  Oxford  to  R.  G.  Wilberfoi'ce. 

Reading,  December  17,  1865. 

I  have  no  family  news  to  give  you  in  the  last  fortnight.  I 
have  been  about  the  diocese  from  day  to  day,  preaching 
seventeen  times  in  the  seventeen  days  of  December,  besides 
speeches,  confirmations,  &c.,  and  am  pretty  nearly  worn  out. 
I  have  got  my  Ordination  beginning  to-morrow — rather  a 
large  one,  and,  from  beloved  Ernest  being  there,  a  very 
interesting  one  to  me  ;  and  then  I  have  one  more  consecration 
and  confirmation,  and  a  sermon  or  two  at  Cuddesdon,  and 
then  I  hope  for  ten  days  of  comparative  rest  at  Lavington. 
...  I  should  have  liked  to  have  gone  up  your  hill  with  you 
after  that  fall  of  snow  in  the  higher  ridges,  and  the  top  view 
of  them.  I  went  to  see  some  beautiful  Indian  drawings,  and 
pictured  you  to  myself  amongst  them.  I  suppose  the  snow 
had  driven  those  deer  from  the  higher  ground,  and  so  you 
got  the  near  sight  of  them. 

January  2,  \'i66. — -(Lavington.)  Blustering  day.  Morning, 
wrote.  Planting  on  Common  and  Lawsonianas  about  grounds. 
Long  talk  with  Currie,-  who  gallantly  defending  A  rcJidcacon 
Manning.  Evening,  R.  Randall's,  &c. :  dined.  A  great  many 
letters. 

January  3. — Worked  at  Life  "^  all  the  morning.  Knox 
came  :  rode  with  him  to  Common,  Sir  Tatton"*  fell,  and  then 
Grafifham  hillside  marking  trees.  Warden  of  All  Souls  came, 
and  very  late,  and  G.  Richmond. 

2  The  Rev.  J.  Currie,  Vicar  of  West  Lavington. 

*  Revised  Edition  of  Life  of  ]V.  IVilberfoixc. 

*  A  horse  so  named. 


1865-6,  CUDDESDON  PARTIES.  1 75 

jfantiary  4. — Rode  with  the  Warden  to  Goodwood  and 
Chichester,  &c.  The  old  Bishop  well,  and,  as  always,  most 
kind.  Home,  and  wrote  a  good  deal.  Evening,  charade 
party  at  Graffliam — good. 

January  10. — Off  early  for  London  :  Hawaian  meeting,  &c. 
Then  to  Croydon,  whence,  with  F.  and  Ernest,  to  Adding- 
ton — very  kindly  welcomed. 

January  11. — White  world,  and  snow  still  falling.  Cedrus 
Atlantica  broken  down.  To  London  late,  and  no  train  to 
Wycombe  :  so  to  Oxford.  Travelled  to  Reading  with  Lady 
Phillimore ;  thence  with to  Cuddesdon. 

From  this  date  to  the  27th  the  diary  records  Cud- 
desdon parties  ;  among-  the  guests  were  the  Bishops  of 
London,  Lichfield,  Gloucester  and  Bristol.  Some  of 
these  intervening  days  are  chronicled,  '  Long  Ritual 
discussion  ; '  others,  '  Discussed  Readerships,  &c. ;'  '  Dis- 
cussed subjects  for  Oxford  sermons.'  From  the  27th  to 
the  31st  the  diary  is  a  bare  record  of  places  where 
the  Bishop  held  Confirmations.  That  evening  the 
Bishop  returned  to  Cuddesdon. 

February  i. — Up  early  ;  letters  ;  church  ;  papers  sorting  ; 
bills  with  Ernest,  and  then  wrote.  Few  minutes'  ride  with 
Basil.  The  Corporation  and  Lord  Abingdon,  Hammersley, 
Archdeacon  Clerke,  Leighton,  &c.,  dined. 

February  2. — Early ;  letters ;  church  ;  breakfast ;  with , 

his  memory  full  of  disjointed,  useless,  generally  personal, 
events.  At  11.25  my  dearest  Ernest  and  F.  drove  off, 
leaving  my  heart  how  sore  and  empty  !  At  accounts,  letters, 
&c, ;  then  rode  with  Basil,  who  very  affectionate. 

February  3. — Up  early  ;  breakfast  after  church  ;  then 
James  Ashhurst  as  to  Monday's  meeting  ;  letters  and  papers, 
and  off  for  London  ;  rode  to  station  ;  many  letters  going  up. 
Dined  with  Queen's  Advocate/'  Bishop  of  Salisbury,  R, 
Curzon,  Edward  Denison,  Mrs.  and  W.  E.  Gladstone — he 
clear  and  bright.  Talked  of  cattle-plague — Aberdeenshire 
method  of  dealing  with  it  the  only  practicable  one.     Parlia- 

^  Sir  R.  rhillimore. 


176  LIFE   OF  BISHOP   WILBERFORCE.         chap.  vi. 

ment  can  only  enable.  Objections  ;  trickery  ;  impossibility  of 
settling  between  rent,  number  and  value  of  stock.  ^  Ecce 
Homo '  praised  loudly  for  manly  eloquence. 

February  4. — Up,  8.15;  Chapel  Royal,  10;  Garden*^ 
preached  a  fair  sermon.  Athenaeum,  and  wrote,  with  little 
interruption,  sermon  for  Ash  Wednesday  till  5.  Then  with 
Trench  to  26  Pall  Mall,  and  I  to  Chapel  Royal.  Again  to 
Athenaeum  to  read  till  7.30.  To  Speaker's  with  Lady  Phil- 
limore,  E.  Denison,  Archdeacon,  &c. — pleasant  evening. 

February  5. — Archbishop  of  Dublin  breakfasted  and  talk  ; 
Bishop  of  Salisbury  and  Archdeacon  Huxtable.  Meeting  at 
Lambeth  .  .  .  Bishop  of  Lincoln  main  producer  of  propo- 
sition for  settling  law  against  Ritualists,  and  carrying  it  into  the 
higher  Courts — at  last  I  proposed  adjournment.  Consultation 
afterwards  with  Bishops  of  Salisbury  and  Gloucester.  Letters. 
Dined  at  E.  Hamilton's — much  pleasant  talk. 

The  Bishop  thus  writes  to  his  son  Ernest  : — 

Lambeth,  February  5,  1866. 

Many  thanks  for  all  your  dear  kindness.  The  violets 
almost  upset  me ;  the  room  is  so  full  of  their  perfume,  like  that 
of  your  affection.  I  am  writing  during  the  Ritualistic  dis- 
cussions of  the  Bishops — no  light  yet,  nor  do  I  expect  very 
much  to  come. 

February  6. — Morning,  Convocation  ;  drew  up  address  to 
the  Queen — adopted  unanimously.  Then  House  of  Lords 
for  opening.  After  to  Lambeth  ;  spoke  at  length  on  ritual. 
Then  House  of  Lords  and  Commons.  Dined  at  Lambeth — 
Archbishops  Armagh,  Dublin  ;  Bishop  of  St.  Asaph,  &c. 

February  7. — Convocation  breakfast ;  morning.  Convoca- 
tion ;  then  Lambeth  till  5.40,  ritual ;  then  wrote  till  dinner  with 
Bishop  of  London,  Archbishops  of  Armagh  and  Dublin,  Bishop 
of  St.  David's.     Great  party  of  Convocation  at  night. 

February  8. — Church  ;  Convocation  breakfast ;  Ecclesias- 
tical Commission  ;  S.  P.  G, ;  79  Pall  Mall,  for  the  motion  of 
Burrows — spoke  on  meanness  of  forsaking  the  Bishop  of 
Capetown  ;    House  of   Lords.    Letters ;    dined  Westminster 

''  Sub-Dean  of  the  Chapel  Royal,  St.  James's. 


iS66.  ST.   ALBANY'S  CHURCH.  lyy 

audit  dinner.  House  of  Commons  with  Archbishop  of 
Dublin — walked  home  with  General  Peel. 

February  9. — Early.  Read  office.  Convocation  break- 
fast;  Convocation  at  1 1.  Then  Bishops' meeting  and  Convo- 
cation till  7.15.  Dined  at  the  Athenaeum  with  Bishop  of 
St.  David's,  and  then  wrote  with  Sir  G.  Provost  till  12 — tired 
out. 

February  10. — Very  wet  morning.  Bishop  of  Grahams- 
town  to  talk  over  Fremantle's  and  Bishop  of  London's 
review  against  Bishop  of  Capetown.     Grillions,  walked  there 

with ,  and  talk  as  to  Newport  ;  with  Sir  W.  Heathcotc 

back.  Wrote  at  Athenaeum  ;  spoke  for  Newport  Market 
Refuge,  and  wrote  till  7.30  ;  48  letters.  Then  dined  at  Dudley 
House — Lord  and  Lady  Lichfield,  Anson  and  Mrs.,  Chief 
Justice  Cockburn,  R.  Lowe  and  Mrs.,  Lady  Molesworth,  Lady 
C.  Kerrison  ;   Lady  Dudley  charming. 

February  11. — (Sunday.)  Sir  R.  Phillimore  to  breakfast, 
to  go  with  me  to  St.  Albans.  Walker,  Cleaver  and  Stanton 
officiating  ;  Walker  celebrant.  Stanton  preached  an  earnest, 
useful,  practical  sermon  on  fasting,  its  duty,  uses,  difficulties, 
and  temptations — thoroughly  evangelical,  but  rather  an 
imitation  of  Liddon,  and,  though  successful  as  an  imitation, 
failing  by  suggesting  the  original ;  congregation  grave, 
earnest,  devout ;  large  proportion  of  strangers  ;  but,  except 
the  prostration  and  the  incensing,  I  thought  it  far  better  in 
effect  than  I  expected.  Wrote  sermon  after,  and  dined  at 
the  Phillimores  with  H.  Glynne. 

February  \2. — Read  service  at  home:  breakfast  and 
letters.  Colonial  Council  ;  letters.  Lambeth  curates'  meet- 
ing. House  of  Lords  ;  letters.  Dinner  at  Athenaeum  ;  letters, 
and  very  tired  home  to  bed. 

February  13. — Up  betimes  ;  off  for  Boyne  Hill  at  9.30 — a 
beautiful  completed  work,"  D.  G. ;  the  snow  powdering  the 
ground  ;  the  day  bright  and  clear.  Prepared  sermon  going 
down  in  train,  on  '  Sursum  corda ' — the  Spire's  voice ; 
preached  with  interest.  Luncheon  and  toasts  ;  back  to  House 
of  Lords  ;  letters.  Dined  Sir  W.  Farquhar's — Gladstones.  Col. 

•  Vol.  ii.  pp.  3S9,  390. 
VOL.  III.  N 


178  LIFE   OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.  chap.  vi. 

Kingscotc,  Lord  Elliott,  Egcrtons,  Charlie  Wood,  Archbishop 
of  Canterbury,  Lady  Granville. 

February   14. — (Ash  Wednesday.)       Up    in    good    time  ; 

saw &c. ;  then  to  Goulburn's,  where  Wordsworth  preached 

on  fasting  ;  walked  to  Cavendish    Square  ;  saw  and  prayed 

^vith ;  heavy  rain ;  packed  up  and  finished  sermon  ;  to 

Oxford  ;  preached  first  sermon  of  series — great  congregation  ; 
Randall  and  W^oodford  to  Cuddesdon  ;  I  wait  for  to-morrow. 

February  15. — Up  early  ;  letters  ;  saw  people  ;  meeting  of 
Diocesan  Societies,  lay  section  ;  rode  out  to  Cuddesdon  with 
Archdeacon  Randall  and  Woodford,  wrote ;  the  Ordination 
and  addresses. 

February  16. — Morning,  Ordination  address ;  letters  ; 
rode  with  Basil  ;  letters.  Cattle  plague  spreading  all  round. 
Address  in  the  evening  on  Red  Heifer. 

February   ly. — Up  early  ;    prepared  addresses,  &c.  ;    set 

papers  ;  saw  each  separately  ;  sent  poor away  ;  packing 

and  leave-taking ;  rode  to  Didcot  ;  rail  to  Reading  with 
Archdeacon ;  Confirmation  at  St.  INIary's  ;  address  in  St. 
Giles'  Hall  to  communicants  ;  to  Mrs.  Lev^ett's  ;  supper 
and  bed. 

February!^. — (Sunday.)  Up  early.  Prepared  sermon  on 
'  Draw  near  to  God ' — preached  it  at  St.  Giles'.  Returned 
to  Mrs.  Levett's,  and  prepared  evening  sermon  on  '  A 
Syrian  ready  to  perish,'  &c. ;  grace  and  Gospel  ;  vast  congre- 
gation. Back  to  Mrs.  Levett's  with  Archdeacons  Randall 
and  Bickersteth. 

The  Bishop  thus  writes  to  his  son  Reginald  : — 

Reading,  February  18,  1866. 
I  am  here  at  our  annual  Lenten  Mission,  full  of  very  hard 
work.  .  .  .  The  cattle  plague  is  terrible  ;  Gale  ^  had  24  down 
with  it  on  Friday,  and  I  expect  daily  to  hear  that  we  have  it. 
In  Cheshire  it  has  quite  destroyed  the  horned  cattle,  and  I 
hear  of  41  farmers  being  in  the  Lunatic  Asylum  from  despair 
at  their  losses.  There  is  not  yet  the  least  amendment.  Last 
Sunday  we  had  a  terrific  hurricane.  The  Duke  of  Richmond 
writes  me  word  that  his  cedars  were  torn  up  by  the  roots  ;  at 

•*  A  farmer  at  Cuddesdon. 


1 866.  LENTEN  MISSION. 


179 


Lavington  an  old  oak  ditto,  besides  innumerable  breakings, 
and  my  observatory  broken  off  forty  feet  from  the  ground. 

February  19. — Up  early.  Communion  at  St.  Giles'. 
Breakfast  at  Fosbery's.  St.  Mary's  Church,  Milman  preached 
excellently  on  doubt  and  unbelief  Then  to for  a  Con- 
firmation, and  thence  to  Upton.  Evening  at  Reading,  to  St. 
Giles'  where  Bishop  of  Ripon  preached  a  good  sermon  of  the 
school. 

February  20. — Early  Communion— Claughton'-*  preached 
a  beautiful  sermon  on  our  Lord's  passion.  Then  he.  Arch- 
deacon, and   I,  to  for   Confirmation  ;   to  Wokingham. 

I  preached  on  '  That  I  may  know  Him,'  &c.  Very  much 
tired  at  night. 

February  21. — Celebrated,  and  addressed  at  early  Com- 
munion, St.  Mary's  :  '  I  delivered  unto  you  what  I  received.' 
Conference,  and  to  London.  Meeting  of  Wellington  College 
Governors.  Lambeth  to  luncheon.  Marriage  Law  Com- 
mittee. University  Assurance.  To  Reading.  Address  at 
Factory. 

February  22. — Early  Communion,  St.  Mary's,  Goulburn 
addressed.  Dean  of  Chichester  preached  excellently  welL 
To  Earley  and  Sonning  for  Confirmations,  with  Cust  and 
Archdeacon  Ffoulkes.  Addressed  Palmer's  men  at  Reading. 
Proctor,  at  evening  service,  preached  ;  very  singular.  A 
baddish  cold. 

February  23. — Did  not  venture  to  early  Communion. 
Confirmed  at  St.  Giles'.  Then  to  Twyford  with  Fosbery, 
and  after  to  Wargrave  ;  exceedingly  tired  at  night,  and  cold  so 
bad,  I  scarcely  got  through  the  Confirmation  at  Wargrave. 

February  24. —  In  bed  all  the  morning.  Dr.  Wells  came 
to  see  me.  Saw  many  people,  and  wrote  many  letters. 
Charged  candidates.  Very  much  tired  at  night.  But,  D.  G.,. 
certainly  much  better  than  last  night. 

February  25. — (Sunday.)  Morning  read  and  thought 
about  sermon.  The  Ordination.  A  grand  sermon  from 
Woodford:    'This    one  thing    I   do.'     Unity   and  diversity: 

9  Bishop  of  St.  Albans. 
N  2 


I  So  LIFE   OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.  chap.  vi. 

this  visible  throughout  God's  laws.  The  shadow  cast  on 
matter  of  the  Trinity  in  Unity.  In  astronomy,  &c.  Back 
and  prepared  sermon  ;  preached  at  St.  Giles'.  Very  hot. 
The  young  men  with  me  afterwards  at  supper. 

February  26.- — Up  betimes.  Cold  better.  To  Town  Hall 
conference.  Then  off  to  Binfield  ;  nice  Confirmation  ;  then  on 
to  Sunningdale. 

February  27. — Cold  sleety  morning.  To  Bracknell,  Con- 
firmation. Then  Cranbourne,  luncheon.  Victor  Johnson's 
and  on  to  Trinity,  Windsor,  Confirmation.  Then  to  Clewer  ; 
confirmed  a  sister,  talk  with  Carter  about  vestments.  He  to 
try  and  moderate  one  side,  I  the  other.  To  London.  Dined 
The  Club.  Duke  of  Argyll,  Lord  Stanhope,  Lord  Kingsdown, 
R.  Lowe,  Reeves,  Sir  W.  Maxwell,  Sir  E.  Head,  Walpole, 
Dean  of  St.  Paul's. 

February  28. — Letters.  People.  Committee  of  Ecclesias- 
tical Commission  on  Grants.  Literary  Society.  University 
Assurance.  Central  African.  Hawaian.  To  Gladstone's 
tea.  Then  home  and  WTOte.  Dined  Sir  E.  Buller's,  Lord 
Chancellor,  Lady  Cranworth,  Dutch  Minister,  Earl  of  Lichfield 
and  Lady,  Sir  George  and  Lady  Grey. 

On  March  i  the  Bishop  went  back  to  the  Diocese 
for  Confirmations,  beginning  at  Bray. 

MarcJi    2. — After    breakfast,    to .     Morning  Pra}'er. 

Humiliation  Day.     Spoke  on  it  in  my  Confirmation  address. 

Many    moved  ;     God     grant    to    some    purpose.      read 

wretchedly  ;  feebleness  and  affectedness.  Confirmation,  cold 
and  few.  I  fear  his  ministr\-  is  ineffectual.  On  to  Boyne 
Hill.  Church  crowded,  and  all  felt  earnest.  Then  to  Bisham, 
where  the  like.     To  the  Abbey,  not  a  large  party. 

March  3. — Off  after  breakfast,  having  seen  old  Hoare  in 
my  bed  room.  A  very  cold  morning.  Thermometer  \6. 
Drove  to  Theale  ;  rather  a  cold  Confirmation.  But  Harrison 
taking  Tilehurst,  doing  cxcellenth',  and  his  people  well 
prepared.  Then  to  Englefield,  a  nice  Confirmation,  Yonge 
having  exerted  himself  a  good  deal.  On  to  Englefield 
House,  all  most  pleasant. 


i866.  MEETIXG    WITH  MANNh\^C.  l8r 

To  his  son  Ernest  the  Bishop  writes  : — 

March  lo,  1866. 
This  is  my  night  of  mourning.  It  seems  to  me  as  last 
night.  I  can  almost  hear  the  deep  breaths  to  which  I  h"stened 
all  through  this  night,  as  I  sat  alone  in  the  bed  holding  her 
up  in  my  arms,  and  thought  that  death,  as  it  came  on,  was 
sleep.     God  bless  you. 

London,  March  15,  1S66. 

We  have  no  family  news.  All  as  per  last.  March  17 
(the  day  of  your  blessed  mother's  funeral  in  1841). — I  am 
now  at  Milton  Hill,  hard  at  work  at  Confirmations.  I 
am  writing  a  line  to  you  before  breakfast.  Fosbery  writing 
at  another  table,  on  my  dictation,  business  letters  of  the 
Diocese. 

March  24,  1866. 

I  forget  whether  I  told  you  of  the  Queen,  God  bless  her, 
having  chosen  to-day  to  receive  the  address  of  Convocation. 
She  wished  to  have  only  a  small  attendance,  and  she  had  her 
wish.  The  Archbishop,  myself,  and  Ely,  and  some  eight  of 
the  Lower  House  formed  the  whole  body. 

April  23,  1866. 

I  rode  into  St.  Albans,  and  saw  the  grand  old  Abbey. 
Just  near  the  tomb  of  John  of  Wheathampstead,  whom  should 
I  suddenly  meet  but  Manning!  At  first  he  seemed  not  to 
know  me  ;  but  I  went  and  shook  hands,  and  he  returned  it 
cordially.  He  did  not  look  nearly  so  aged  as  his  photographs 
make  him  look. 

The  following  are  extracts  from  letters  to  Mr. 
Gordon,  and  refer  to  the  Reform  Bill  which  was 
introduced  on  March  1 2  in  the  House  of  Commons 
by  Mr.  Gladstone,  as  leader  of  the  Ministry  in  the 
House,  a  position  to  which  he  had  succeeded  on  the 
death  of  Lord  Palmerston.  The  Government  were 
beaten  on  the  question  that  the  7/.  borough  franchise 
be  based  on  rating  instead  of  rental ;  but  instead  of 
dissolving  Parliament  as  the  Bi-shop  expected,  resigned 
office  : — 


1 82  LIFE   OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.         chap.  vi. 

March  12. 
Gladstone  has  risen  entirely  to  his  position,  and  done  all 
his  most  sanguine  friends  hoped  for  as  leader.  '  Lord  John  ' 
still  alienates  every  one  who  can  be  alienated.  There  is  a 
general  feeling  of  the  insecurity  of  the  ministry,  and  the 
Reform  Bill  to  be  launched  to-night  is  thought  a  bad  rock. 

June  6,  1866. 
At  home,  Gladstone  is,  I  believe,  determined,  if  possible, 
to  force  through  the  Reform  Bill.  Many  of  his  colleagues 
would  defer  it.  I  expect  they  will  take  a  great  division  on 
the  7/.  franchise,  and,  if  they  are  beaten,  dissolve.  If  they 
carry  it,  let  the  Bill  wait  till  the  spring,  starting  from  that 
point. 

The  next  letters  are  to  his  son  Reginald, 

July  2,  1 866. 
As  I  shall  be  out  of  town  to-morrow — going  to  marry 
Miss  Grant  at  Rochester,  and  speak  for  S.P.G.  at  Ramsgate — 
I  write  to  }'ou  to-day.  .  .  .  We  are  in  the  excitement  of  a 
change  of  ministers.  Lord  Derby  is  coming  in  with  a  pure 
Conservative  Government ;  I  suppose,  certainly  till  next 
Easter.  I  wish  the  moribund  Bishops  would  arrange  their 
affairs  before  the  Whigs  are  in  again.  It  would  be  a  grand 
thing  if  v/e  could  get  a  few  really  good  men  in  whilst  there  is 
this  chance — for  no  one  knows  when  it  may  come  again.  .  .  . 
I  am  thinking  so  very  much  of  you,  and  praying  so  veiy  often 
for  you,  that  we  scarcely  seem  to  be  separated. 

Prescot,  October  2,  1866. 
I  have  had  very  nice  services,  both  Saturday,  Sunday,  and 
yesterday.  Large  attendance,  both  of  Clergy  and  Laity,  and 
most  hearty  services  in  every  respect.  This  is  very  cheering, 
when,  as  I  may  say  to  you,  my  dearest  son,  I  am  often  and 
often  DEEPLY  cast  down,  when  I  seem  the  most  lighthearted. 

The  Bishop  of  Oxford  to  Sir  Charles  Anderson. 

Ashridge,  November  28. 
I  was  very  glad  to  hear  from  you,  and  felt  as  if  1   was 
hearing  Wordsvv^orth  preach  ;   it  must  have   been  a  capital 
sermon.     The  Archbishop  told  me  yesterday  that  he  heard 


i866.  A    TYPICAL  LETTER.  1 85 

from  Burder  and  Dunning  that  three  persons  had  refused 
Lichfield  ;  I  only  know  of  the  Bishop  of  New  Zealand.'  I 
think  it  a  very  fine  thing  in  him  doing  it,  but  I  am  sorry  he 
did  it,  as  I  think  he  would  have  been  exceedingly  useful.  His 
anti-Erastian  influence  would  have  been  quite  invaluable.  I 
had   a  very  pleasant  evening  at  Ernest's  on  Monday,  and  a 

nice  ride  on  Tuesday  with  him  and  F ,  half  way  to  Oxford. 

I  came  on  here  last  night  for  the  re-opening  of  Edleborough 
Church.  Lord  Brownlow  came  up  from  Belton  yesterday  to 
be  with  us,  and  made  two  nice  cordial  speeches  at  the 
luncheon  afterwards.  This  is  very  promising,  and  he  seems 
to  me  to  be  a  very  nice  young  fellow.  We  have  begun  again  on 
the  Ritual  Commission,  and  there  is  a  great  wish  to  condemn 
lights,  incense,  &c.  I  hate  them  as  novelties,  but  I  see  so 
plainly  that  the  party  who  hate  all  real  Church  progress  are 
the  people  who  object  to  them,  that  it  makes  me  very  doubt- 
ful how  far  we  can  go  in  repression  without  repressing  that 
dev^elopment  of  real  Church  life  in  which  is  our  hope.  What 
a  plague  it  is  that  people  cannot  have  common  sense  as  well 
as  earnestness. 

This  letter  from  the  Bishop's  copying  book,  is 
given  as  a  typical  letter  to  one  of  those  clergymen  of 
the  Low  Church  school  still  extant  in  the  diocese, 
who  allowed  his  peculiar  views  to  stand  in  the  way  of 
joining  with  the  other  clergy  in  giving  what  assistance 
was  in  their  power  to  those  diocesan  institutions 
which  the  Bishop  had  founded  : — 

The  Bishop  of  Oxfoi'd  to  the  Rev. . 

December  8,  i£66. 

I  am  glad  of  the  opportunity  which  your  openness  of 
speech  gives  me  of  speaking  with  like  openness  on  the  whole 
subject  of  your  letter. 

I  am  by  no  means  disposed  to  dictate  to  the  clergy  of  my 
diocese.      During    21    years    I   have  left  them  on   all   open 

'  He  afterwards  accepted. 


I S4  LIFE   OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.         chap.  vi. 

questions  the  fullest  liberty,  and  put  the  kindest  construction 
on  their  use  of  their  private  judgment  when  it  led  them  to 
what  I  thought  mistaken  action.  You  have  been  no  exception 
to  this  treatment.  But  when  your  Bishop  and  -jf,ths  of  your 
clerical  brethren  ask  you  to  aid  the  work  of  God  in  your  own 
diocese  by  collecting  for  objects  on  which  there  cannot  be 
two  opinions,  and  you  refuse,  I  think  the  refusal  '  unkind  ' — I 
think  it  a  distinct  acting  of  an  uncharitable  temper — as  St. 
Paul  defines  charity — and,  so  thinking  it,  I  believe  it  to  be  my 
duty  to  say  so  openly.  1  judge  no  individual— -narrowness  of 
mind  may  blind  one,  invincible  ignorance  another,  and  so  on. 
I  judge  no  man,  but  I  pronounce  the  act  uncharitable. 

But  you  say  further,  that  you  '  look  in  vain  for  any  ap- 
proval or  sympathy  from  your  Diocesan,'  &c. 

Now,  this  is  a  grave  charge,  and,  I  can  assure  you,  an  utterly 
unfounded  one — I  have  marked  your  labours,  and  sympathised 
with  you  in  them — I  have  never  let  slip  any  opportunity 
which  your  peculiar  views  of  the  duty  of  a  Church  of  England 
clergyman  permitted  me  of  testifying.  But  I  must  ask  you 
in  common  candour  to  reflect  on  what  your  conduct  has  been. 
You  have  in  every  possible  instance,  when  not  compelled  by 
legal  necessity  to  do  otherwise,  stood  aloof  from  me  and 
marked  your  repugnance  to  acting  with  me.  You  have  never 
asked  me  to  officiate  in  your  church,  and  when  on  two  occasions 
I  have  endeavoured  to  arouse  the  town  of  Reading  to  a  more 
earnest  spiritual  life,  you  have  refused  all  co-operation,  though 
you  knew  that  the  choice  of  every  preacher  in  your  church 
would  be  regulated  by  yourself.  What  must  be  the  results 
of  such  a  line  of  conduct  but  to  render  demonstration  of 
sympathy  impossible  .-*  I  have  many  clergy  in  the  Diocese 
quite  as  openly  joined  to  your  religious  party  as  you  are  ;  but 
W'ith  them  the  case  is  quite  different.  They  know  and  feel 
and  often  speak  of  my  hearty  sympathy — they  know  that  my 
sympathy  is  neither  created  nor  destroyed  by  agreement  or 
disagreement  in  non-essentials — that  I  can  work  as  freely  and 
as  heartily  with  them  as  with  anyone.  In  common  honesty  and 
plainness  of  speech,  I  tell  you  the  fault  is  with  you.  If  you  will 
sever  yourself  from  your  brethren  and  your  Bishop — coldly 
assert  a  separate  line— coldly  dissent  from  every  proposal  of 


1 866.  LETTER  CONTINUED.  I  85 

united  action — querulously  protest  on  every  possible  occasion^ 
it  must  be  impossible  for  your  Bishop  to  show  the  sympathy 
he  longs  to  manifest.  You  have  wholly  wronged  him  in  this 
judgment.      \{  yoit.  will   alter,  you  shall  have  no  ground  to 

complain  of  me.     I  am,  my  dear  Mr.  ,  very  truly  yours, 

S.  OXON. 


1 86  LIFE   OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.        ckap.  vir. 


CHAPTER   VII. 

(1865-1867.) 

LETTERS  TO  THE  REV.  SIR  G.  PREVOST — ARCHBISHOP  OF  CANTERBURY — 
PROPOSED  CIRCULAR  ADDRESS — MEETING  OF  BISHOPS— MR.  GLADSTONE  ON 
RITUAL  LEGISLATION — LETTERS  TO  MR.  FREMANTLE  AND  MR.  BUTLER — 
SPEECH  IN  CONVOCATION — CHARGE  OF  1866 — LEGISLATION  UNADVISABLE 
— THE  PROPER  MODE — ADVANTAGES  OF  AN  INCREASED  RITUAL — READING 
ADDRESSES — ANSWER  TO  MEMORIAL — RESOLUTION  IN  CONVOCATION — 
PROPOSED  LEGISLATION — LORD  SHAFTESBURY — THE  ARCHBISHOP— LEGIS- 
LATION AVERTED  BY  THE  BISHOP  AND  MR.  GLADSTONE— ROYAL  COM- 
MISSION— LORD  SHAFTESBURY'S  BILL,  SPEECH  ON — LORD  SHAFTESBURY 
OBJECTS  TO  THE  BISHOP  ON  COMMISSION — THE  BISHOP'S  CHALLENGE — 
FIRST    REPORT   OF   THE    RITUAL    COMMISSION — LETTER   TO    HIS   SON. 

This  chapter  clearly  shows  the  Bishop's  attitude 
towards  those  High  Churchmen  who  are  now  described 
by  the  name  of  '  Ritualists,'  up  to  the  appointment  of 
the  Ritual  Commission,  It  is  a  significant  fact  that 
no  practices  which  could  be  described  as  excessive  had 
been  introduced  into  the  Diocese  of  Oxford.  The 
Bishop  accounts  for  this  in  his  Charge  of  1866  ;  he 
says  :  'It  is  carefully  to  be  noted  that  where  the ' 
(Church)  '  movement  has  been  the  deepest,  there 
ritualistic  extravagances  have  the  least  appeared.  No 
diocese,  perhaps,  from  various  causes,  has  risen  more 
than  that  of  Oxford  with  the  general  rise  of  Church 
devotion  ;  none  has  been  more  free  from  these  peculiar 
excesses.'  This  first  letter  gives  the  Bishop's  view 
of  the  situation  : — 

The  Bishop  of  Oxford  to  the  Rev.  Sir  George  Prevost. 

Ilackness  Hall,  Scarborough,  October  i8,  1S65. 
I  really  knozv  nothing  in  the  way  of  information.     I  think 
that  there  is  little  doubt  that  the  Bishop  of  London  will  try 


1865.  PROPOSED   ADDRESS.  1 87 

to  get  some  legislative  action  in  the  way  of  altering  the 
rubric  about  ritual.  He  would  try  first  to  get  the  Govern- 
ment to  undertake  it,  if  not  the  Bishops.  The  arguments 
about  it  are  what  will  at  once  occur  to  you.  It  would  be,  in 
fact,  a  total  readjustment  of  our  s)-stem,  and  involve  us  in 
unspeakable  difficulties.  There  could  not  be  a  simple  wiping 
out  of  the  present  rubric,  for  that  would  leave  7io  lazv.  There- 
fore there  must  be  a  definition  of  everything  lawful  and 
unlawful — post  of  minister  before  Communion  table,  &c. 
Now,  what  endless  discussion  vuist  be  caused  by  such  an 
attempt,  and  what  a  miserable  result !  For  even  if  all 
moderate  men  on  both  sides  agreed  and  settled  matters,  it 
would  infallibly  lead  to  a  great  secession.  Many  who  never 
mean,  because  they  are  too  wise  and  loving  to  run  any  risk  of 
irritating  those  of  their  flock  who  would  be  scandalised  by 
increased  ritual,  to  2isc  the  present  liberty,  would  be  deeply 
injured  by  its  being  taken  away  from  them,  and  there  being 
this  legal  severance  for  ever  of  our  ritual  from  Western 
Christendom's  use. 

Then  for  this — it  would  be  absolutely  impossible  to  open 
and  to  limit  such  questions  ;  once  let  it  be  allowed  to  be  a 
matter  for  Parliament  now  to  settle  what  should  be  our 
rubrics  and  our  ritual,  and  it  would  be  wholly  impossible  to 
avoid  bringing  the  whole  Prayer  Book  question  before  Par- 
liament. I  think,  therefore,  that  the  applying  to  Parliament, 
as  I  believe  the  Bishop  of  London  wishes  to  do,  would  be 
most  dangerous.  I  think  the  way  to  resist  would  be  at 
present — first,  by  the  clergy  understanding  one  another ; 
second,  by  addressing  the  Archbishop  and  the  Bishop  of  the 
diocese,  earnestly  deprecating,  for  the  sake  of  the  peace  of 
the  Church,  any  such  attempt. 

During'  the  past  session  the  Marquis  of  Westmeath 
had  called  the  attention  of  the  House  of  Lords  to  cer- 
tain alleged  innovations  in  the  Anglican  service,  and 
this,  coupled  with  the  undeniable  fact  that  obsolete 
usages  were  being  adopted  in  many  places,  suggested 
to  the  Archbishop  the  advisability  of  issuing  an  address, 
signed  by  all  the  Bishops.  He  therefore  wrote  to  the 
Bishop,  asking  his  counsel.     The  Bishop  replied  : — 


]88  LIFE   OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.        chap.  vii. 

The  Bishop  of  Oxford  to  the  Archbishop  of 
Canterbury. 

Coley  Park,  Reading,  December  16,  1S65. 
l\Iy  own   mind   is  distinctly  against  an   episcopal  address 
on  the   Ritual   question  ;  and,   as  you  desire   me,  I  state  it 
openly,    and    will    simply    add    my    reasons    for    your    con- 
sideration. 

1.  I  doubt  the  constitutional  correctness  of  these  addresses. 
Each  Bishop  has,  of  course,  a  right  to  address  his  diocese, 
and  your  Grace  to  address  your  province  ;  but  I  do  not  think 
it  according  to  the  constitution  of  the  Church  that  the 
Bishops,  out  of  Synod,  should  thus  assume  any  aggregate 
authority. 

2.  I  am  sure  that  the  clergy  are  exceeding  jealous  of  such 
addresses  ;  and  I  believe  that  the  laity  would  be  even 
more  so,  if  the  address  went  against,  instead  of  with,  the 
popular  opinion  of  the  day. 

3.  I  do  not  think  the  effect  of  the  address  would  be  good, 
even  if  we  could  agree  on  it  ;  for  to  get  any  agreement  we 
must  be  most  general  in  our  terms.  We  could  not,  I  am 
sure,  agree  in  detailed  advice  as  to  what  part  of  the  restored 
ritual  we  wished  to  discountenance.  The  Bishop  of  Carlisle 
would  wish  to  discountenance  all  which  advanced  a  step 
beyond  Puritan  Dissent.  But  if  we  are  thus  general,  I  fear 
we  shall  do  no  good,  and  may  do  harm.  The  {q^w  really 
extreme  men  will  not  attend  to  us.  They  will  say.  You 
have  no  right  either  to  assume  to  fix  what  is  lawful,  or  to 
advise  us  not  to  do  what  the  law  allows  our  doing.  But, 
while  we  shall  not  move  them,  we  may,  I  think,  greatly 
trouble  the  ministry  of  many  others,  who  have  really  no  aim 
in  the  measure  of  ritual  they  have  restored,  save  increasing 
the  reverence  of  their  congregations  in  God's  worship,  but 
who  will  be  immediately  assailed  by  the  Puritan  faction  and 
urged  to  drop  all  those  things  to  which  their  best  people  are 
now  attaching  a  high  value,  and  then  be  represented  as  going 
against  the  episcopal  address.  I  greatly  fear  this  would  be 
the  case  in  my  own  diocese.  We  have,  I  thank  God,  none 
of  those  extremes— my  influence  has  been  quite  enough  to 


1865.  ADVISES  AGALXST  ADDRESS.  1 89 

prevent  them.  But,  to  go  no  farther  than  the  parish  in  which 
I  am  writiny,-,  Cust  has  restored  the  service  at  St.  Mary's  to  a 
beautiful  propriety  ;  the  Httle  surpHced  choristers  are  a 
pattern  :  but  Mr. and  such  like,  might  hold  an  indig- 
nation meeting  against  him  for  going  against  the  Bishops,  if 
he  did  not  unsurplice  his  choir  and  degrade  his  service  to 
their  Dissenting  level.  And  this  brings  me  to  another  most 
serious  objection.  There  is,  I  believe,  in  the  English  mind  a 
great  move  towards  a  higher  ritual.  No  one  can  fail  to  see 
its  effect  everywhere  ;  even  the  Dissenters  and  the  Scotch 
Puritan  Establishment  are  affected  by  it.  I  rejoice  in  the 
ground  we  have  gained.  I  believe  we  should  be  better  off  if 
our  people  desired  yet  farther  progress.  The  evil  to  me  seems 
to  be  in  the  priest  outrunning,  and  so  scandalising,  the 
people.  Where  the  people  go  with  the  priest,  ground,  I 
think,  is  gained,  which  as  a  Church  we  lost  when,  in  order  to 
get  rid  of  Popery,  we  had  for  a  time  to  sacrifice  much  that 
was  Catholic. 

Now,  the  ground  which  has  been  gained  was  gained  by 
persons  who  at  the  time  went  beyond  the  common  practice, 
and,  by  bearing  reproach  for  Christ,  have  now  raised  the 
common  practice. 

Now,  the  tendency  of  such  an  address  would  be:  i.  To 
stop  everything  where  it  is,  which  I  am  not  prepared  to  do. 
2.  To  force  back  much  ;  to  make,  e.g.,  St.  James's,  Picca- 
dilly, with  its  dry,  depressing,  mechanical  ritual,  the  highest 
rule  allowed.  I  feel  convinced  that  such  an  attempt  would 
drive  many  over  to  Rome  and  would  leave  a  dull,  depressed, 
uninteresting  service  the  rule  where  we  did  get  obedience. 
To  conquer  the  masses,  we  must  have  men  of  spirit,  and  with 
men  of  spirit  we  must  have  some  eccentricities.  I  saw  some 
wonderful  illustrations  of  all  this  lately  in  the  diocese  of 
Manchester,  which  I  would  gladly  detail  viva  voce  to  )-our 
Grace.' 

'  The  Bishop's  diary  of  Octoljer  28  supplies  some  of  the  Manchester  expe- 
ricnrcs.  On  that  day  he  met  Mr.  Edward  James,  Member  for  Manchester,  at 
dinner,  at  the  Mayor's  ;  he  tohl  the  I'isliop  how  astonished  he  was,  when  he  was 
canvassing  Manchester,  at  the  Church  feeling.  He  said  :  'The  common  people 
cared  far  more  for  the  Church  than  for  Reform.  Lay  defence  organising  against 
the  oppression  of  the  Bishop  of  Manchester.     Strong  increase  of  love  for  ritual.' 


igo  LIFE   OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.       chap.  vii. 

But  though  this  is  my  decided  opinion,  I  would  loyally 
support  your  Grace  to  the  utmost  limit  of  what  I  think 
lawful,  if  at  last  you  resolve  on  any  course — only,  may  I 
suggest  further  that  if  this  matter  is  to  be  discussed  by  us 
it  should  be  under  the  following  conditions  : — 

1.  There  should  be  no  circular  notice  of  such  discussion. 
This  would  assuredly  get  abroad,  and  of  itself  do  much  of  the 
evil  I  have  ventured  above  to  suggest. 

2.  There  should  be  an  absolute  agreement : 

{a)  That  no  address  should  finally  be  adopted  unless  it 
was  adopted  unanimously. 

{b)  That  it  should  state  what  we  did,  and  what  we  did 
not,  wish  to  discourage. 

(r.)  That  there  should  be  pledge  of  absolute  silence  out  of 
the  room  as  to  the  whole  subject,  that  neither  the  '  Record  ' 
nor  the  '  Church  Times '  might  be  able  to  blazon  the  matter 
abroad  and  stir  up  strife. 

I  hope  I  have  not  wearied  your  Grace  ;  but,  as  you  asked 
m}^  opinion,  I  felt  bound  in  duty  to  put,  as  far  as  possible, 
my  whole  views  before  you. 

The  Archbishop  was  not  convinced  by  this  letter, 
and  in  reply  explained  that  what  he  meant  was  that 
the  letter  should  be  one  of  counsel,  not  of  authority. 
He  granted  that  unless  such  a  letter  was  unanimously 
adopted,  or  very  nearly  so,  it  would  be  useless  ;  but  he 
anticipated  no  difficulty  in  getting  a  unanimous  consent 
to  the  discarding  of  vestments  and  incense,  and  ad- 
hering to  the  surplice.  The  Archbishop  also  seemed 
to  think  from  the  letter  that  the  Bishop  looked  forward 
to  a  general  restoration  of  vestments  and  incense,  which 
the  Bishop's  answer  most  emphatically  contradicts  : — 

December  24,  1865. 
I  thank  you  cordially  for  your  kind  consideration  of  my 

The  Mayor  of  Liverpool,   a  Low   Church  member  of  McNeile's  congregation, 
told  me  that  his  (McNeile's)  influence  was  passing  away  ;  '  he  should  advise  him  to 

retire  from  Liverpool.'    So,  says ,  Mayor  of  Manchester,  '  Stowell's  influence 

almost  gone  before  his  death.' 


1865.  FATHERLY  COUXSEL.  191 

objections,  I  need  scarcely  say  that  I  will  give  my  most 
careful  attention  to  your  answers.  I  will  now  only  correct 
Vv'hat  seems  to  me  a  misapprehension  of  my  meaning  in  my 
letter,  into  which  some  inadvertence  of  mine  has,  I  fear,  led 
your  Grace.  I  did  not  mean  to  imply  that  I  approved  of  the 
use  of  the  vestments  and  incense  ;  so  far  from  it,  I  have  pre- 
vented it  in  my  diocese.  What  I  did  mean  was  that  I 
thought  our  individual  action,  and  not  our  collective,  was  our 
safe  course.  I  venture,  too,  to  think  that  there  is  a  wide 
difference  between  addressing  a  brother  Bishop  and  addressing 
the  clergy.  Sjich  advice  must,  I  fear,  wear  the  aspect  of  an 
attempt  to  exercise  unlawful  authority. 

The  matter  had  been  discussed  by  the  Bishops  in 
their  private  meeting  in  the  previous  May,  when  the 
Bishops  of  Lincohi  and  Winchester  proposed  that  a 
test  case  should  be  tried,  as  they  thought  the  Court 
would  be  strict  in  a  case  of  this  description,  though  it 
was  loose  on  doctrine.  The  Bishop  advised  that  no 
legislation  should  be  sought  for  (which  had  been  pro- 
posed), no  prosecution  entered  upon,  as  such  a  course 
might  provoke  retaliation  ;  but  he  recommended,  as 
he  did  in  the  above  letters  to  the  Archbishop,  fatherly 
counsel.  The  Bishop  of  Ripon,  who  spoke,  agreed 
that  it  was  not  advisable  in  any  way  to  restrict  the 
liberty  of  the  Church  of  England,  but  advised  the 
getting  up  a  case  in  order  that  a  competent  legal 
authority  might  declare  what  that  liberty  was.  This 
drew  an  exceedingly  pertinent  remark  from  the  Bishop 
of  St.  David's  :  '  May  I  ask  what  hinders  your  getting 
an  opinion  ?  ' 

Another  meeting  of  the  Bishops  was  held  on 
February  5,  1866,  at  Lambeth,  from  the  tone  of  which 
it  may  be  gathered  that  it  would,  as  the  Bishop  feared, 
have  been  impossible  to  obtain  a  unanimous  expres- 
sion of  opinion  from  the  Bishops  as  to  the  just  limits 
of  the  Ritual  movement.     The  proceedings  also  indi- 


r92  LIFE   OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.       chap.  vii. 

cate  that,  had  wise  and  hberal  counsels  prevailed 
among  the  episcopate  at  that  time,  this  movement 
would  have  been  restrained  and  guided.  One  of 
the  first  speakers  was  the  Bishop  of  Gloucester  and 
Bristol,  who  said  that  Mr.  Upton  Richards"  told  him 
that  there  was  a  most  general  readiness  to  yield  to 
the  pastoral  office  of  the  Bishops.  He  afterwards 
explained,  in  answer  to  certain  questions,  that  there 
had  been  no  time  to  inquire  whether  Mr,  Richards 
represented  the  Ritualist  party,  but  he  thought  all  the 
sound  persons  of  the  party  would  acquiesce.  On  this 
the  Bishop  of  Ely  said  he  thought  the  resolutions — 
(i)  What  is  legal  ;  and  (2)  What  is  permissible — and 
the  memorials  which  were  before  them  should  be  taken 
together  :  he  desired  to  meet  any  overtures  of  peace 
from  an  extreme  party.  The  Bishop  of  Durham  said 
that  he  considered  this  proposal  quite  inadmissible. 
Nothing,  he  thought,  could  be  more  injurious  to  the 
Bishops  than  such  an  arrangement.  He  then  alluded 
to  the  proposal  that  a  test  case  should  be  tried,  and 
said  :  '  Suppose  the  opinion  was  favourable,  we  are 
then  bound  to  carry  out  the  new  law  and  stir  up.'  He 
was  of  opinion  '  that  there  should  be  no  compromise 
with  men  who  are  disturbing  wilfully  and  wickedly  the 
peace  of  the  Church.'  The  Bishop  of  Lincoln  strongly 
pressed  getting  a  legal  opinion  and  then  going  to  the 
Courts.  The  Bishop  of  London  thought  the  best  course 
would  be  if  the  Ritualists  would  submit  to  fatherly 
counsel.  The  difficulty  of  the  case  was,  he  thought.  In- 
creased because  doctrine  was  involved  ;  he  said  :  'You 
must,  in  the  Church  of  England,  allow  a  large  latitude 
of  doctrine.'  He  differed  from  the  view  of  drawing  a 
case  for  opinion,  on  the  ground  that  it  would  be  Im- 
possible to  make  a  case  wide  enough. 

-  Vicar  of  All  .Saints',  Margaret  Street. 


1 865.  BISHOP   OF  EXETER S  REMARK. 


193 


'  The  proper  mode  of  dealing  with  the  case  is,  getting  the 
Bishop  the  general  controlling  power  intended  by  the  rubric 
for  him  to  possess.  It  was  always  intended  that  the  Ordinary 
should  have  it.  The  old  custom  was  that  the  Archbishop 
and  Bishops  used  to  order,  and  the  clergy  to  obey.  It  was 
said  that  Parliament  won't  give  the  power.  If  Parliament 
were  asked  to  do  it,  to  defend  the  laity  from  changes,  it  would, 
I  believe,  enable  us  to  do  what  it  is  intended  we  should  be 
able  to  do.' 

The  Bishop  of  London  further  said  that  the  way  to 
meet  the  objection  that  if  this  were  done  one  Bishop 
would  settle  one  way  and  one  another  was  that  there 
should  be  provision  made  that  the  Bishop  should  con- 
sult certain  other  persons,  with  laity  learned  In  the  law. 
The  Archbishop  should  himself  be  bound  to  act  with 
his  Vicar-  General.  This  would  be  not  ex  post  facto, 
because  it  would  be  carrying  into  effect  the  Prayer  Book 
rubric.  The  Bishop  of  Winchester  did  not  agree  v/ith  the 
Bishop  of  London  ;  he  thought  a  case  could  be  drawn 
which  would  be  wide  enough,  that  then  the  Ritualists 
should  be  prosecuted,  and  the  expenses  defrayed  by 
all  the  Bishops. 

Enough  has  been  quoted  to  show  how  great  a  dif- 
ference of  opinion  there  was  amongst  the  Bishops  as 
to  what  should  be  done.  The  discussion  was  con- 
tinued on  February  7  and  9  ;  nothing  of  very  great 
importance  being  recorded,  with  the  exception  of  a 
characteristic  remark  from  the  aged  Bishop  of  Exeter  : 
'  If  you  try  to  enforce  the  rubric  you  will  have  a 
rebellion  ;  try  to  alter  it,  and  you  will  cause  a  shipwreck.' 
On  the  9th  the  Bishops  divided  on  the  question  as  to 
whether  the  address  should  be  promulgated,  when  13 
voted  for  it  and  8  against  it,  the  minority  consisting  of 
the  Archbishop  of  Dublin,  Bishops  of  St.  David's, 
Oxford,  Salisbury,  Lincoln,  Gloucester  and  Bristol, 
Bangor,    and    Killaloe.     Immediately    after,    it    was 

VOL.  III.  o 


1 94  LIFE   OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.        chap.  vil. 

proposed   and   carried    that,    the    Bishops   not   being 
unanimous,  the  address  should  not  be  issued. 

Before  the  above  discussion  took  place,  the  Bishop 
had  taken  counsel  with  Mr.  Gladstone  on  the  whole 
question,  and  on  the  Archbishop's  proposal.  Some 
passages  of  Mr.  Gladstone's  answer  are  quoted,  and 
it  may  be  remarked  that  the  Bishop  wrote  to  Mr. 
Gladstone,  thanking  him  for  writing  so  exhaustively 
on  the  subject,  and  said:  '  I  agree  entirely  with  every 
word  of  your  letter.'  Mr.  Gladstone  said  '  that  there 
should  be  no  restraining  or  narrowing  legislation, 
unless  it  was  to  avert  some  proximate,  weighty,  and 
far-spreading  evil.'     He  said  : — 

If  there  is  to  be  legislation,  it  should  not  be  to  forbid  any- 
thing now  lawful,  nor  to  increase  episcopal  power,  nor  to 
force  those  who  now  break  the  law  by  defect  into  a  stricter 
obedience,  but  to  defend  the  right  of  the  congregation  not  to 
have  the  status  gi/o,  their  own  custom,  and  the  only  one 
known  to  them  by  tradition,  broken  in  upon  by  the  mere 
will  of  the  clergyman,  even  though  his  aim  be  merely  to 
restore  what  the  law  undoubtedly  requires,  if  in  the  particular 
place  it  has  fallen  into  disuse,  except  in  cases  of  positive 
scandal  and  indecency. 

In  summing  up,  iNIr.  Gladstone  thus  states  his 
opinion  : — 

I  am  against  attempts.  In  present  circumstances,  to  define 
ritual  too  much  by  quantity  ;  it  is  quality,  proportion,  relation, 
which  seems  to  me  to  have  the  true  claim  to  regard.  I  do  not 
think  you  can  define  the  maximum  of  true  legitimate  de- 
mand ;  which,  under  much  of  the  existing  demand,  in  appear- 
ance moderate,  may  notwithstanding  be  quite  illegitimate. 

In  February  the  Bishop  received  memorials  from 
two  of  his  Rural  Deans  on  the  subject  of  Ritual ;  and 
as  the  Rural  Deans  who  forwarded  them  may  be  looked 
upon  as  representative  men  of  the  two  parties  in  the 


1866. 


TIP'O  LETTERS. 


195 


Church — one    being     Mr.   Fremantle,   now  Dean     of 

Ripon,  the  other  Mr.  Butler,  now  Canon  of  Worcester 

the  Bishop's  reply  to  each  is  given  : — 


The  Rev.  W.  R.  Fremantle. 

Feb,  10,  1 866. 

]My  dear  Fremantle, — I 
have  waited  to  reply  to  you 
till  I  could  speak  after  some 
days'  consultation  with  my 
brethren  of  the  Episcopal 
College.  I  greatly  regret 
both  the  kind  and  the  degree 
(in  many  respects)  of  the 
Ritualism  of  which  I  under- 
stand you  to  complain.  From 
what  I  hear  of  the  services  in 
one  or  two  dioceses  (for  I 
thank  God  we  have  no  such 
cases,  to  the  best  of  my  know- 
ledge, in  our  own)  I  should 
not  hesitate  to  say  that  they 
seem  to  me  to  be  distinctly 
contrary  to  law,  alien  to  the 
religious  character  and  temper 
of  our  own  Church,  and,  how- 
ever unintentionally,  strongly 
flavoured  with  peculiarities 
which  would  seem  to  ally 
them  closely  with  the  Church 
of  Rome.  I  deplore  that 
such  practices  have  been  in- 
troduced into  any  of  our 
churches,  and  I  trust  that 
they  may  very  soon  be  dis- 
continued. But,  I  must  add, 
the  subject  is  full  of  difficulty. 
It  would  be  unjust  to  attempt 
to  enforce,  by  strict  law,  the 


The  Rev.  W.  Butler. 

Feb.  10,  1866. 

My  dear  Butler,— Will 
you  convey  to  those  who 
have  signed  the  address  you 
sent  me  my  thanks  to  them 
for  it }  It  always  gives  me 
great  pleasure  to  hear  from 
the  clergy  of  my  diocese 
their  judgment  upon  the 
questions  which  are  occupy- 
ing the  attention  of  the 
Church.  At  the  present  mo- 
ment, when  there  is  so  much 
excitement  as  to  what  is 
called  the  Ritualistic  develop- 
ment, I  am  very  glad  to  be 
supported  by  these  opinions 
that  the  Church's  rule  ought 
not  to  be  altered.  There 
seems  to  me  a  good  deal  of 
needless  alarm  on  the  matter. 
There  has  been,  in  time  past, 
much  neglect ;  our  externals 
in  worship  were  let  down  far 
too  low  ;  our  flocks,  I  believe, 
were  not  gathered  and  helped 
as  they  might  have  been  by 
externals,  and  the  Church's 
rule  was  neglected  on  the 
side  of  defect.  I  have  heard 
of  clergy  who  shrunk  on  all 
possible  occasions  even  from 
the  simple  surplice.  The  re- 
action has  come,  and  mainly 


196 


LIFE   OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.       chap.  vir. 


lowering  of  too  florid  a  ritual, 
which  the  congregation  de- 
sired, whilst  the  law  is  not 
equally  enforced  where  it  is 
too  low.  There  is,  and  there 
must  be,  a  large  latitude  al- 
lowed in  such  matters.  The  at- 
tempt to  force  an  absolute  and 
uniform  obedience  would  only 
be  the  signal  for  rebellion. 
No  one  doubted  that  when 
the  late  Bishop  of  London 
attempted  to  enforce  the 
preaching  on  Sunday  morn- 
ing in  a  surplice,  he  was  only 
enforcing  the  direct  letter  of 
the  law,  yet  Islington  rose  in 
what  proved  to  be  a  successful 
rebellion.  Unless,  then,  we 
mean  to  enforce  what  the 
cry  of  the  times  requires,  and 
to  leave  all  that  is  against 
that  passing  inclination  free, 
and  so  perpetrate  an  in- 
justice, we  must  acquiesce  in 
a  large  liberty  on  both  sides. 
Moreover,  the  present  general 
rise  in  the  conduct  of  our 
services  would  never  have 
been  accomplished  unless 
changes  had  been  permitted 
which,  at  the  first,  found 
many  opponents.  I,  for  one, 
believe  that  we  ought  to  do 
nothing  which  can  arrest  this 
happy  progress.  It  is,  there- 
fore, to  loving  episcopal  re- 
monstrance, to  the  brotherly 
influence  of  other  clergy,  and 


where  the  neglect  had  been 
greatest.  In  many  of  these 
cases  no  man  reasonably 
doubts  that  the  new  .system 
has  been  introduced  for  the 
purpose  of  winning  souls  to 
Christ.  From  what  I  hear 
as  going  on  in  the  different 
dioceses,  I  suppose  that  prac- 
tices have  been  introduced 
which  appear  to  me  objec- 
tionable both  in  number  and 
kind  ;  some  even,  as  the  in- 
censing in  the  Magnificat, 
very  objectionable.  In  our 
own  diocese  we  have,  I  thank 
God,  none  of  it  ;  and  I  can- 
not doubt  that  where  it  is  in 
excess  the  kindly,  fair,  and 
patient  use  of  existing  au- 
thority will  suflice  to  reduce 
it  to  its  proper  limits.  The 
rule  for  our  conduct  is  not,  I 
think,  difficult : — 

r.  There  must,  for  Christ's 
sake,  be  no  transgressing  the 
distinct  law  of  the  Church — 
that  is  simple  rebellion 
against   Him. 

2.  Where  that  which 
seems  the  letter  of  the  law 
varies  from  the  all  but  uni- 
versal custom,  there  should 
be  no  individual  revivals  of 
the  obsolete  without  the  sanc- 
tion or  permission  of  living 
authority. 

3.  Where  a  long  tradition 
has  linked  the  religious  feel- 


i866. 


DISAPPROVAL   OF  DEVELOPMENTS. 


197 


ings  of  a  parish  to  a  lower,  if 
it  be  but  a  lawful,  use,  there 
should  be  no  arbitrary  altera- 
tion for  the  pastor's  pleasure 
to  the  wounding  of  the  flock. 
I  am  ever  affectionately  yours, 

S.  OxoN. 


to  the  general  good  sense  of 
our  laity,  that  I  look,  under 
God's  blessing,  to  temper  and 
guide  this  spirit.  Our  rules 
seem  to  me  simple  : — 

1.  There  must  be  on  all 
sides  an  entire  obedience  for 
Christ's  sake  to  the  law  of  the 
Church. 

2.  When  the  letter  of  the 
law  seems  to  an  individual  to 
be  against  long-established 
and  almost  universal  custom, 
there  should  be  no  revival  of 
the  obsolete  without  the  al- 
lowance of  living  authority. 

3.  Where  long  tradition 
has  linked  the  religious  sym- 
pathies of  a  parish  to  a  lower, 
but  lawful  use,  there  should 
be  no  arbitrary  alteration  for 
the  pastor's  pleasure  to  the 
wounding  of  his  flock.  I  am 
ever,  my  dear  Fremantle, 
most    truly    yours    affection- 

^^^^>^'  S.  OxoN. 

In  these  letters,  as  will  be  observed,  the  Bishop 
sounded  no  uncertain  note.  He  held  the  same  view  with 
regard  to  Ritualistic  extravagances  now  that  the  move- 
ment  was  developed  as  he  did  when  it  was  in  its  infancy. 
In  1859  he  wrote  to  his  Archdeacons,  expressing  his 
'  utter  disapproval  of  all  attempts  to  introduce  unusual 
ritualistic  developments.'  To  improve  the  service  by 
an  increase  of  lawful  ritual  was  what  '  The  Record ' 
and  its  supporters  could  not  endure,  and  they  classed  all 
who  would  not  walk  in  their  own  narrow  groove  cither 
as  '  Ritualists,'  or  '  inclined  to  Ritualism.'    The  Bishop's 


198  LIFE  OF  BISHOP   WILBERFORCE.        chap.  vii. 

toleration  was  to  them  unendurable.  These  two  letters 
also  show,  Avhat  the  Bishop  amplified  in  his  Charge 
delivered  at  the  end  of  the  year,  that  while  he 
was  ready,  in  obedience  to  the  moving  current  of  the 
time,  to  approve  of  an  increase  of  ritual,  yet  he  guarded 
against  any  violent  innovation  in  the  accustomed  service 
of  the  Church  in  whichever  direction  it  tended,  by 
making  the  sanction  or  permission  of  the  Bishop,  as 
guardian  for  the  flock  under  him,  necessary  in  each  case. 
What  the  Bishop's  own  views  were  have  been  often 
stated,  but  it  may  be  as  well  to  repeat  them.  Speaking 
on  the  question  of  Ritualism  in  Convocation  on 
February  9,  the  Bishop  says  : — 

There  may  be  differences  of  opinion  as  to  the  extent  to 
which  ritualistic  observances  should  prevail  in  public  worship. 
The  conformation  of  men's  minds  differs.  The  conforma- 
tion of  my  mind  leads  mc  to  be  satisfied  with  the  simplest 
form  as  being  the  most  productive  of  devotion  ;  but  it  is  not 
so  with  others,  and  I  have  no  right  to  make  what  suits  me 
the  law  for  everybody  else. 

The  following  letter  further  shows  that  in  all 
changes  of  ritual,  however  slight,  the  Bishop  thought 
that  the  welfare  of  the  people  was  the  thing  to  be 
considered  : — • 

St.  Giles's  Vicarage,  February  19,  1866. 

.  .  .  As  to  the  question  of  preaching  in  the  surplice,  I 
think  the  matter  stands  thus  \— 

Lord  Chelmsford  and  Dr.  Deane  some  years  since  gave 
an  opinion  that,  as  to  rules  of  the  Church  which  have  been 
suffered  to  become  obsolete  or  generally  unobserved,  no 
clergyman  was  bound  to  revive  their  use  unless  called  on  by 
living  authority  to  do  so.  This  is  my  own  view.  I  do  not 
call  on  you  to  preach  in  the  surplice  if  you  in  your  discretion 
think  it  not  for  the  peace  of  your  parish  to  do  so. 

In  the  Charge,  an  account  of  which  follows,  the 
Bishop  thus  publicly  stated  the  same  view. 


1 866.  THE  BISHOPS  CHARGE.  1 99 

With  a  general  uniformity  some  differences  in  detail 
ought,  I  conceive,  to  be  allowed  on  this  principle.  I  have  for 
twenty-one  years  administered  this  diocese,  never  even 
urging  upon  those  who,  from  habit,  disliked  it  themselves,  or 
feared  the  misunderstanding  of  their  flocks  (and  not  in  such 
cases  urging  it  now),  obedience  to  such  plain  requirements  as 
that  the  Sunday  morning  sermon,  when  a  part  of  the  Com- 
munion office,  should  be  preached  in  the  surplice,  and  not  in 
the  gown. 

The  Bishop's  triennial  Charge,  delivered  in  1866, 
dealt  very  extensively  with  the  Ritual  question,  and 
his  deliberate  opinions  on  the  subject  can  be  gathered 
from  this  Charge.  Some  passages  of  it  are  there- 
fore given.  He  describes  the  Ritual  development 
as  being  *  like  some  brilliant  fantastic  coruscation, 
which  has  cast  itself  forth  from  the  surface  of  the 
weltering  mass  of  molten  metal,  which,  unaffected  by 
such  exhalations,  flows  on  with  its  full  stream  into  its 
appointed  mould.  Those  burning  sparks  witness  of 
the  heat  of  the  mass  from  which  they  sprung  ;  they  are 
not,  in  their  peculiar  action,  of  its  essence  or  its  end.' 
The  Charge  dealt  at  length  with  proposed  restrictions. 
On  the  first  of  these — legislation — the  Bishop  said  : 
*  Legislation  would  be  premature,  and  therefore 
dangerous.  To  be  safe,  it  should  embody  and  ratify, 
but  not  precede  the  Church's  general  conclusions.'  If 
legislation  simply  repealed  the  Rubric  which  was 
quoted  as  legalising  the  restored  ornaments,  no  rule  as 
to  ritual  would  remain.  '  Are  these,'  he  says,  'the  times 
propitious  for  Convocation  and  Parliament  proceeding 
further,  and  enacting  by  canon  and  statute  a  new 
table  of  rules  for  all  the  ornaments  and  ceremonials  of 
our  Church  ? '  On  the  second  of  these  proposals,  legal 
proceedings,  the  Bishoj)  agreed  with  the  Report  of  the 
Lower  House  of  Convocation,  '  that  judicial  proceed- 


200  LIFE  OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.        chap.  vii. 

ings  would  tend  to  promote  rather  than  allay  dissen- 
sions,' and  that  to  attempt  to  establish  a  rule  applicable 
to  all  places  and  congregations  alike  is  to  establish  an 
uniformity  which  cannot  be  obtained  except  at  the 
price  of  peace.'  The  next  passage  in  the  Charge 
must  be  quoted  at  length  : — 

Legal  proceedings,  then,  as  well  as  legislative  measures, 
may,  I  trust,  be  avoided  ;  and  yet  I  fear  both  will  be  in- 
evitable unless  those  who,  by  rashness — to  say  the  least — of 
action,  have  brought  themselves  and  us  into  these  difficulties, 
will  make,  under  the  fatherly  counsel  of  those  set  over  them  in 
the  Lord,  some  sacrifice  for  peace.  My  earnest  counsel  to 
them  is  that,  in  every  instance,  they  lay  their  whole  case 
before  their  Bishop,  and  act  absolutely  on  his  direction.  He 
will,  no  doubt,  consider  well  and  lovingly  the  special  circum- 
stances of  each  Church,  the  difficulty  of  suddenly  abandoning 
all  to  which  a  congregation  has  become  attached  ;  and,  so  far 
as  he  deems  he  lawfully  can,  v/ill  seek  to  meet  such  difficulties 
by  a  just  and  comprehensive  settlement  of  the  questions 
referred  trustfully  to  him.  In  urging  this  course  upon  faithful 
Churchmen  I  speak  with  the  more  confidence  because  it  is 
assuredly  the  true  Church  line.  Until  the  passing  of  the  Act 
of  Uniformity  there  is  no  question  that  the  Bishop  to  a  large 
degree  fixed  the  Liturgy  of  his  diocese  ;  those,  then,  who 
contend,  on  the  strength  of  a  dormant  rubric,  for  a  legal 
right  to  innovate  on  the  use  of  the  diocese  against  the  judg- 
ment of  the  Bishop,  are,  in  truth,  seeking  to  supersede  the 
Church's  rule  by  an  Act  of  Parliament.  Peace,  I  believe, 
is  still  obtainable  if,  as  I  venture  to  advise,  they  will  place 
the  matter  in  their  Bishop's  hands  ;  for  that  which  has  most 
alarmed  the  great  body  of  the  Church  is  the  sense  of  entire 
insecurity  as  to  what  amount  of  alteration,  and  what  hidden 
doctrinal  meanings,  recent  changes  seem  to  threaten. 

Who  can  read  these  prophetic  words  of  loving 
counsel,  and  doubt  that,  If  this  advice  had  been  fol- 
lowed, the  Church  would  have  been  saved  those  fearful 
scandals  which    have   been   brought   about  by  hasty 


i866.  A   MODERATE   CEREMONIAL.  201 

legislation  and  judicial  proceedings  on  the  one  hand, 
and  on  the  other,  to  use  the  Bishop's  own  words,  by 
'  the  changes  which  have  been  mainly  introduced, 
sometimes  clearly  by  the  rash,  and  generally  by  the 
young  and  ardent,  against  the  wishes  of  the  more 
sober-minded,  and  the  advice  of  those  whom  He  has 
appointed  overseers  of  the  flock.'  ^ 

It  must  not  be  supposed  that  the  Bishop  wished  to 
see  what  he  characterised  as  a  '  frozen  uniformity.'  He 
was  quite  prepared,  as  the  following  sentences  show,  for 
an  increase  of  ceremonial,  provided,  '  i,  that  it  was  not 
contrary  to  law ;  2,  that  it  does  not  tend  to  promote 
amongst  us  any  false  doctrine  or  corrupt  practice  ;  3, 
that  it  be  at  the  least  not  condemned  by  living  authority  ; 
and,  4,  that  it  be  the  gradual  expression  in  outer  things 
of  the  advancement  of  the  Church's  inward  life.  The 
Bishop's  reasons  were  that  a  *  moderate  and  sober 
development  of  ceremonial  belongs  necessarily  to  the 
Church  as  a  living  body.'  '  Life,'  he  says,  '  implies,  of 
a  necessity,  change.     Death  only  secures  immutability.' 

Again,  in  any  normal  condition  of  the  Church,  the 
spiritual  necessities  of  the  body  necessitate  changes.  Every 
varying  phase  through  which  it  is  passing  renders  some 
change  expedient,  perhaps  essential  to  Hfe.  The  bark-bound 
tree,  the  hide-bound  animal,  must  suffer,  and  too  often  die. 
The  rigid  clasp  of  an  unalterable  ritual  may  fatally  repress 
zeal,   generate    formality,    or    nourish    superstition.       In  the 

^  In  August  1867  Dr.  Littlcdale  wrote  to  the  Church  Times  saying  that  he 
considered  a  reasonable  compromise  would  be — 

a.  Retention  of  vestments  wherever  in  use. 

b.  Permission  to  use  them  in  all  churches  hereafter  built  when  its  founder  and 
first  incumbent  are  so  minded. 

c.  Permission  to  employ  them  at  extra  services  in  old  churches  and  chapels 
when  both  churchwardens  and  not  less  than  one-third  of  the  communicants  of 
the  congregation  shall  agree  to  petition  for  their  use. 

d.  Permission  to  employ  them  at  the  regular  services  when  not  less  than 
three-fourths  of  the  communicants,  together  v/ith  the  churchwardens,  desire  it. 

e.  Prohibition  in  other  cases. 


202  LIFE  OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.        chap.  vil. 

normal  condition,  therefore,  of  the  Church  ritual  must  be, 
and  ought  to  be,  elastic  and  subject  to  variations.  .  .  .  Whilst, 
then,  I  consider  the  actual  ritual  developments  which  have 
been  so  hastily  adopted  in  their  novelty,  multiplication,  and 
amount,  as  rash,  unadvisable  and  dangerous,  may  it  not  be 
that  the  attempt  to  introduce  them  and  the  amount  of 
welcome  they  have  met  with  from  many,  both  of  the  laity  and 
clergy,  point  to  some  part  of  our  present  system  which  may 
admit  of  perfecting  ?  This  is  a  grave  question.  Most  of  the 
heaviest  blows  dealt  against  our  Church  have  been  the  result 
of  neglecting  such  intimations.  If  her  rulers  had  read  aright 
the  signs  of  the  times,  and  tried  the  wise  policy  of  supplying 
within  the  Church  that  for  which  so  many  yearned,  instead  of 
retreating  upon  what  always  must  be  the  losing  game  of  a 
chill  repression  of  the  desires  of  a  multitude  of  hearts,  the 
great  Methodist  division  might,  I  doubt  not,  have  been  pre- 
vented. 

The  Bishop  then  pointed  out  at  length  what  there 
was  to  be  gained  by  an  increased  ritual.  He  con- 
cluded that  portion  of  the  Charge  which  dealt  w-ith 
this  question  in  the  following  words  : — 

It  may,  I  hope,  allay  the  fears  of  some  amongst  us  who 
value,  as  I  do,  the  great  inheritance  of  primitive  truth  won 
for  us  by  our  martyred  Reformers,  to  see  that  the  sober  flow 
of  reviving  ritual  is  not  hostile  to  that  truth,  and  need  not 
tend  toward  Papal  corruptions  ;  that  it  may  tend,  if  rightly 
guided,  only  to  restore  to  us  what  our  fathers  had  before 
those  corruptions  arose  ;  to  revive  old  English,  not  to  ape 
new  Roman,  ways  ;  and  that,  so  viewed,  it  may  be  a  move- 
ment of  God's  Spirit  reacting  against  the  too  prevalent  incli- 
nation to  remove  all  mystery  from  religion,  a  holy  desire  to 
mark  more  clearly  in  outward  act  and  sign  that  the  worship 
of  the  Church  even  here,  for  each  one  who  has  faith  to  read 
aright  its  true  character,  is  but  the  shadow  cast  on  earth  of 
the  intercession  and  the  worship  of  the  heavenly  temple. 
Only  let  it  never  be  forgotten  that  every  increase  of  outer 
ceremonial  must  be  accompanied  by  an  equal  increase  in  the 
simple  preaching  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ  and  of  the  hearts' 


i866.  ARCHBISHOPS  APPROVAL   OF  CHARGE.         203 

devotion  of  the  worshippers;  for  that  without  this  inward 
breathing-  of  the  soul  under  the  inspiration  of  the  blessed 
Spirit,  all  external  imagery  soon  passes  into  the  second  death 
of  a  hypocritical  formality. 

Of  the  many  letters  which  the  Bishop  received,  ap- 
proving of  this  Charge  and  warmly  thanking  him  for  it 
was  one  from  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  as  fol- 
lows : — 

I  have  read  your  Charge  with  very  great  attention,  espe- 
cially the  part  of  it  which  refers  to  Ritualism.  The  view  which 
you  take  is,  on  the  whole,  quite  in  accordance  with  my  own. 
The  gravity  of  the  circumstances,  and  the  dangers  that  sur- 
round us,  are  impressively  dwelt  on,  and  the  advice  you  give 
is  excellent. 

The  Charge  was  received  by  the  Diocese  with  an 
almost  universal  expression  of  approval.  A  very  few, 
however,  were  found,  to  join  in  a  Lay  Declaration  against 
the  Charge.  It  will  be  remembered  that  in  1859  the 
Bishop  received  an  address  signed  by  4,000  laymen 
living  at  or  near  Reading.  This  address  prayed  the 
Bishop  to  arrest  by  virtue  of  his  office  '  the  progress  of 
objectionable  innovations,  to  allay  the  fears  enter- 
tained and  to  suppress  all  such  causes  for  further 
apprehensions.'  The  Bishop  referred  the  petitioners 
to  the  reply  he  had  already  given  to  the  clergy  who 
had  addressed  him,  and,  as  no  more  was  heard  of  the 
petition,  it  seems  fair  to  assume  that  their  confidence 
in  their  Bishop  was  completely  established.  This  is 
confirmed  by  the  fact  that  the  present  petition,  also 
emanating  from  Reading,  was  signed  by  only  200 
laymen,'*   and   was    immediately    met    by   a    counter- 

^  The  Rev.  A.  P.  Cust,  of  St.  Mary's,  Reading,  now  Dean  of  York,  wrote  as 
Rural  Dean  to  the  Bishop  about  this  petition,  and  as  his  letter  throws  a  strong 
light  upon  the  nature  of  these  petitioners,  some  extracts  are  given  :  *  The  principal 
names  are  members  of  the  extreme  and  narrow  party  in  the  town  ;  you  never  liad 
their  confidence,  and  whatever  your  Cliarge  might  have  stated,  they  would  have 


204  LIFE   OF  BISHOP    WILBKRFORCE.       chap.  vii. 

petition  from  the  same  town  expressing  entire  confi- 
dence in  the  Bishop.  The  following  is  part  of  the 
Bishop's  reply  to  the  second  address  : — 

Gentlemen, — I  thank  you  for  your  letter  accompanying 
an  address  from  the  Mayor,  ex-Mayor,  Town  Clerk,  thirteen 
Churchwardens,  and  others,  to  the  number  of  237  of  the 
town  of  Reading. 

It  has  given  me  much  pleasure  to  receive  this  proof  of 
confidence  and  affection.  I  thank  God  that  my  endeavours 
to  do  my  duty  amongst  you,  as  your  Bishop,  for  one-and- 
twenty  years  are  so  generously  and  kindly  appreciated. 

I  attached  very  Httle  weight  to  that  other  address  to  which 
you  refer.  I  felt  convinced  that  it  vi'as  not  the  voice  of  the 
Churchmen  of  Reading.  I  saw  at  once,  from  the  signatures 
to  it  which  meant  anything,  that  it  was  put  forth  by  those 
who  are  unhappily  actuated  by  that  narrow  and  prejudiced 
spirit  which  must  make  them  dislike  every  attempt  of  mine 
to  maintain  the  distinctive  doctrines  and  discipline  of  our 
reformed  Church  in  that  large  spirit  of  toleration  which  is 
so  essentially  hers.  .  .  . 

On  February  13,  1867,  the  Bishops  sat  with  closed 
doors  to  consider  the  answer  they  should  make  to  the 
Report  of  the  Lower  House  on  the  Ritual  question.  The 
reply  v/as  drawn  up  and  moved  by  the  Bishop  of 
Oxford,  seconded  by  the  Bishop  of  London,  and  carried 
unanimously.  The  concluding  words  of  the  resolution 
are  all  that  need  be  quoted  :  '  Our  judgment  is  that  no 
alterations  from  lono^-sanctioned  and  usual  ritual  ouQ^ht 

considered  it,  as  coming  from  you,  unsatisfactory.  With  them  a  few  are  associated 
who  are  alarmed  at  the  reports  of  the  actions  of  one  extreme  ;  many  have  simply 
acted  under  personal  influence.  Some  have  never  read  ' '  your  Lordship's  elabo- 
rate, but,  in  their  judgment,  singularly  ambiguous  and  unsatisfactory  Charge." 
Some  of  those  who  reprobate  "your  Lordship's  episcopal  career,"  which  they  say 
has  had  their  "close  observation,"  have  scarcely  arrived  at  manhood,  while  some, 
who  describe  themselves  as  communicants,  have  not  received  the  Communion 
for  years. ' 


1867.  A    CRISIS.  205 

to  be  made  In  our  churches,  until  the  sanction  of  the 
Bishop  of  the  diocese  has  been  obtained  thereto.' 

The  Bishop  of  Oxford  to  the  Bishop  of  Salisbury. 

Rail  to  Cuddesdon,  March  6,  1867. 

My  dearest  Brother, — After  you  left  [the  Bishops'  meeting] 
I  used  my  utmost  endeavours  to  check  this  suicidal  step. 
But,  alas  !  not  only  were  York,  Durham,  Carlisle,  Ripon, 
Peterborough  for  it,  but  Ely,  and,  above  all,  Canterbury,  said 
they  must  support  it  if  brought  forward  !  ! 

I  had  specially  pressed  the  terrible  evil  of  the  English 
Episcopate  supporting  Shaftesbury  in  such  a  step,  the  party 
colour  given  to  the  whole  by  Jiis  lead,  the  clear  determination 
to  limit  doctrinal  liberty  one-sidedly,  &c.  &c.  To  this  the 
answer  was  made,  then  if  the  Archbishop  brought  in  such  a 
Bill .''  I  said  I  should  deprecate  any  such  measure,  but  if  the 
Archbishop  thought  it  necessary,  and  introduced  it,  I  should 
not  oppose  it.  It  was  thereupon  agreed  that  Shaftesbury 
should  be  hounded  off  by  being  told  that  the  Archbishop  was 
preparing  such  a  Bill,  and  a  committee  was  settled  to  draw 
it  up.  They  are  to  meet  Friday,  the  8th,  and  press  me 
greatly  to  come  up  for  it.  May  God  guide  his  Church 
through  these  great  and  strange  difficulties  !     I  am  your  ever 

loving,  c-    r\ 

^'  S.  OXON. 

The  following  letter  to  Mr.  Gladstone  shows  that, 
during  the  Bishop's  enforced  absence  from  town, 
different  counsels  nearly  prevailed.  How  they  were 
averted  Is  shown  by  the  other  letters  which  follow  : — 

The  Bishop  of  Oxford  to  the  Right.  Hon. 
IV.  E.  Gladstone. 

Chipping  Norton,  March  10,  1867. 

My  dear  Gladstone, — I  hear  to-day  from  Phillimore  that 
the  Archbishop  has  spoken  to  you  concerning  the  great  crisis 
into  which  party  spirit  and  titru'dity  are  hurrying  us,  and  so 
my  lips  are  unsealed  so  far  that  I  write  in  confidence  to  you 
about  it. 


206  LIFE   OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.         chap.  vil. 

Last  Monday   it  transpired  that  Lord   Shaftesbury  had 
printed  and    proposed  to  read   at  once  a  first  time   a  Bill, 
drawn  by  A.  J.  Stephens,  for  making  the   50th  Canon  the 
absolute  and  sole  rule  of  the  Church  of  England  as  to  orna- 
ments, dresses,  &c.,  throwing  over  the  rights  of  congregations, 
the  discretion  of  Bishops,  and  the  liberty  of  the  Church  for 
all  future  expansion.     It  was  exactly  the  idea  for  his  cramped, 
puritanical,    persecuting   mind.     The   Archbishop    called    a 
meeting   of  the    Bishops    next    day,  at   which    it    at    once 
appeared  that  the  whole  phalanx  of  Archbishop  and  Bishops 
from  the  north,  and  all  the  puritan  Bishops,  were  hot  for  it- 
only  three  of  us  opposed  it.     Worst  of  all,  our  own  Arch- 
bishop, though  he  did  not  like  it,  '  did  not  see  how  he  could 
oppose   it'     I   set    before  them   at   length   the  ignominy  of 
the  course ;  its  shameless  party  spirit  ;    the   suicide   of  the 
English  episcopate  being  dragged  at  the  tail  of  Shaftesbury  ; 
and  I  so  far  with  difficulty  succeeded  that  the  Bishops  in 
league  with  Shaftesbury  said  that  if  the  Archbishop  would 
undertake  to  legislate,  they  would  persuade  Shaftesbury  to 
wait.     On  Wednesday  I  had  to  preach  at  Oxford,  and  have 
not  been  able  to  return  since  ;  but  I  hear  that  Lord  Russell 
and  Walpole(!)  have  expressed  their  approval,  and  that  the 
Archbishop   is  going  on.     I  have  written  to  him  as  strongly 
as   I  can,    pointing  out   the   terrible  evils  which  the   course 
seems  to  me  to  imply.     I  have  sent  the  copy  of  my  letter  to 
the  Bishop  of  Salisbury,  or  I  would  inclose  it.    Now,  I  trouble 
you  with  all  this  because  I  know  the  Archbishop's  high  value 
of  your  opinion,  and  I  believe  that  if  anything  can  save  us 
from   the  terrible  end  to  which  pusillanimity  is  driving  us,  it 
will  be  your  influence  with  him.     Could  you  not  see  him  and 
show  him  what   it  will  be  for  the  Bishop^  to  come  with  a 
Gfacrcrinsf  Bill  before  the  House  of  Commons  }     I  am  Jicrc  for  a 
week — worked  almost  to  death,  as,  if  you  will  cast  your  eye 
over  the   inclosed    paper,   you   will   see.     I   am   ever   affec- 
tionately yours,  g^  OXON. 

The   following   is     the   letter   to   the   Archbishop 
referred  to  in  the  last : — 


1 867.  THE  ESTABLISHMENT  IMPERILLED.  207 

March  7,  1867. 

Further  reflection  only  increases  my  distress  at  this 
intended  move.  Parliament  without  Convocation  being 
encouraged  by  us  to  alter  a  leading  rubric,  one  which  governs 
all  our  ornaments  and  official  vesture,  will,  of  itself,  so 
wound  all  our  better  men  that,  quite  irrespective  of  what  the 
alteration  is,  I  think  it  will  inevitably  cause  a  disruption. 
I  do  not  believe  in  the  necessity  of  any  movement ;  but  if 
any  movement  is  made,  surely  it  should  be  done  regularly. 
The  Queen  should  be  moved  to  send  a  letter  of  business  to 
our  Convocations.  We  could,  I  am  confident,  carry  an}^  wise 
measure  through,  and  then  Parliament  might  confirm  it.  I 
venture  to  implore  your  Grace,  who  has  saved  us  from  so 
much,  to  save  us  from  this,  which,  I  verily  believe,  does, 
humanly  speaking,  involve  an  irreparable  blow.  I  have 
reason  to  know  that  we  can  get  the  highest  help  in  the 
House  of  Commons  against  Lord  Shaftesbury's  violence. 
Oh  that  your  Grace  would  (letting  me,  if  you  prefer  not 
doing  it,  take  the  obnoxious  part  of  arguing  the  case  against 
him)  say  that,  whilst  you  were  ready  to  take  the  constitu- 
tional course  marked  out  above,  and  use  your  full  powers  to 
procure  a  settlement  of  the  question,  you  must  oppose  such 
a  precedent  as  Parliament,  without  the  Queen's  Commission 
and  the  acting  of  the  clergy  in  their  Convocations,  under- 
taking to  deal  with  a  leading  rubric  of  the  Book  of  Common 
Prayer. 

This  is  a  new  position  not  considered  by  us  in  our 
hasty  Tuesday's  discussion.  I  pray  God  your  Grace  may  see 
your  way  to  occupy  it,  for  I  do  verily  believe  that  a  hasty 
discussion  and  a  false  step  here  may  go  far  to  destroy  the 
Established  Church. 

I  know  that  you  will  let  me  add  that  a  tender  loyalty  to 
your  person  adds  to  my  anxiety.  On  Saturday,  Feb.  2,  you 
replied  to  a  deputation  from  the  English  Church  Union  (see 
*  Guardian,'  Feb.  7,  1867):  'I  have  already  publicly  declared 
my  determination  never  to  consent  to  any  alteration  in  any 
part  of  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer  without  the  full  con- 
currence of  Convocation.'     Now,  I  fear  this  would  be  held 


2o8  LIFE  OF  BISHOP    WILBE^FORCE.        chap.  vii. 

to  pledge  you  to  a  line  of  conduct  which  supporting  this 
move  would  violate. 

I  fear  that  I  may  be  unable  to  come  up  to-morrow. 
Preaching  last  night  at  Oxford  has  made  my  throat  so  sore 
that  I  may  be  really  unable  safely  to  come  up,  as  I  promised 
to  hold  myself  ready  to  do. 


The  Right  Hon.  TV.  E.  Gladstone  to  the 
Bishop  of  Oxford. 

March  ii,  1867. 

My  dear  Bishop  of  Oxford, — On  Friday  evening  I 
chanced  to  meet  the  Archbishop,  and  learned  from  him  that 
the  Bishops  intended  to  take  up  a  Bill  of  Shaftesbury's'^  for 
giving  the  force  of  law  to  the  58th  Canon.  From  me  this 
communication  had  the  worst  reception  I  could  possibly  give 
it  without  departing  from  my  great  personal  respect  and 
deference  to  the  Archbishop. 

On  Saturday  I  wrote  to  him  a  letter,  of  which  I  inclose 
the  copy — please  to  return  it.  This  morning  I  have  a  note 
from  the  Archbishop,  desiring  to  meet  me  with  the  Arch- 
bishop of  York  and  Bishop  of  London.  I  am  going  to  call 
on  them  at  London  House. 

Meantime  I  have  written  again  very  strongly  to  the  Arch- 
bishop a  letter,  which  there  was  not  time  to  have  copied,  for 
communication  to  his  own  brethren. 

The  only  method  of  dealing  satisfactorily  with  any  Church 
difficulty  is  by  some  well-assured  and  wide  concurrence  like 
that  in  the  case  of  subscription.  This  appears  to  be  in  every 
particular  the  exact  reverse.  It  is  just  like  the  case  of  our 
consulting  Bright  (and  him  only)  last  year — except  that  we 
did  not  do  it. 

Yesterday  I  saw,  for  the  first  time,  the  service  in  a 
Ritualistic  church  proper.  There  was  much  in  it  that  I  did 
not  like,  could  not  defend   as  good,  perhaps  could  not  claim 

5  This  is  not  quite  accurate.  The  Bill  which  the  Archbishop  proposed  to  in- 
troduce was  a  Bill  drawn  by  the  Bishop  of  Gloucester  and  Bristol,  and  was 
called  *  An  Act  for  removing  doubts  as  to  the  mode  of  conducting  Public  Wor- 
ship.' 


1 867.  A    COUNSEL   OF  FEAR  STAYED.  209 

toleration  for.     But  that  must  be  in  the  last — the  very  last  — 
resort. 

And  I  think  it  idle  to  suppose  a  Bill  such  as  this  can  pass 
the  House  of  Commons  without  raising  many  and  large 
questions.  I  am  afraid  it  would  throw  me  into  a  very  anti- 
Episcopal  position.  In  any  case  I  must  reserve  to  myself 
perfect  freedom.  I  agree  in  the  views  of  it  which  you  express. 
I  have  read  your  Charge  with  great  admiration.  I  remain, 
affectionately  yours,  ^^^  ^   GLADSTONE. 

P.S. — After  the  interview  : 

1.  They  were  all  under  the  belief  that  you  had  agreed  to 
support,  or  not  to  oppose,  the  Bill. 

2.  It  was  not  Shaftesbury's  simple  enforcement  of  the 
58th  Canon,  but  embraced  all  the  questions. 

3.  I  left  them,  I  think,  in  the  mind  to  drop  the  Bill  and 
propose  a  Commission. 

The  Bishop  of  Oxford  to  the  Right  Hon. 
W.  E.  Gladstone. 

Chipping  Norton,  March  12. 

My  dear  Gladstone, — I  thank  God  that  you  have  been 
enabled  so  far  to  stay  this  counsel  of  fear  which  threatened 
destruction. 

I  agree  entirely  with  every  word  you  say. 

I  cannot  conceive  how  they  could  think  I  should  support 
the  Bill.  When  we  met  on  Tuesday  I  could  hardly  get  a 
hearing  as  to  not — on  the  spot — giving  ourselves  up  to  Lord 
Shaftesbury.  Against  this  was  wj  struggle ;  when  at  last  they 
said,  '  If  the  Archbishop  brings  in  a  Bill  ">.  '  I  said,  that  is 
quite  another  affair  ;  I  cannot  conceive  m}'  opposi)ig  what  HE, 
as  my  metropolitan,  considered  it  his  duty,  after  full  reflection, 
to  introduce — and  so  we  parted.     But  at  the  next  meeting — 

(i)  The  Bishop  of  Gloucester  read  my  protest  to  them  ; 

(2)  I  wrote  at  length  to  the  Archbishop  my  reasons  for 
opposing  the  measure. 

(3)  I  have  his  answer,  expressing  his  pain  at  feeling  bound 
to  act  in  opposition  to  my  judgment. 

VOL.  III.  V 


2IO  LIFE  OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.        chap.  vii. 

(4)  The  Bishop  of  Gloucester  wrote  that,  at  the  interview 
the  Archbishop  and  he  had  with  Lord  Derby,  my  opposition 
to  the  measure  was  fully  and  fairly  stated  to  Lord  Derby. 

(5)1  wrote  to  Lord  Derby  to  explain  the  grounds  of  my 
dissent.  It  is  hard  to  convince  a  person  like  the  Archbishop 
of  York  that  you  do  not  agree  with  him  ;  i,  because  his  self- 
importance  makes  him  almost  unable  to  apprehend  such  a 
possibility ;  2,  because  it  leads  him  so  perpetually  to  repeat 
his  own  assertions  that  it  is  not  easy,  without  a  seeming 
breach  of  courtesy,  to  force  in  the  mention  of  your  own 
opinions,  I  think  it  possible  that  the  idea  that  I  should  not 
oppose  in  the  House  of  Lords  our  present  Archbishop  was 
what  lodged  in  their  minds.  I  am  most  sincerely  yours 
affectionately,  g  OXON. 

Legislation  by  the  Archbishop  was  thus  averted, 
and  on  March  26  the  Archbishop  wrote  to  the  Bishop 
saying  that 

Lord  Derby  informs  me,  the  Cabinet  are  unanimously 
of  opinion  that  any  proceeding  in  regard  to  recent  Ritualistic 
practices  had  better  be  taken  by  a  Commission  than  through 
immediate  legislation.  He  asks  my  opinion,  and  requests 
me  to  collect  that  of  the  Archbishops  and  Bishops,  whether 
the  inquiry  on  the  part  of  the  Commission  should  be  limited 
to  the  rubric  prescribing  the  ornaments  of  the  Church  and 
of  the  ministers  or  should  extend  to  other  rubrics  and  other 
parts  of  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer.  My  own  view  is 
decidedly  in  favour  of  the  limitation,  and  I  will  thank  you  to 
let  me  know  your  opinion  at  your  earliest  convenience. 

To  this  letter  the  Bishop  replied  as  follows  : — 

March  27,  1867. 

I  am  clear  that  the  inquiries  of  the  Commission  should  be 
limited  to  the  rubric  touching  the  ornaments  of  the  Church 
and  the  ministers.  I  think  it — after  our  experience  of  the 
last  Commission — very  important  that  the  terms  of  the  Com- 
mission should  intimate  that  Convocation  would  be  afterwards 
consulted.  I  reserve  my  own  opinion  that  no  legislation  is 
best  of  all. 


1867.  DANGER   OF  LEGISLATION.  211 

The  inquiries  of  the  Commission  were  not  so 
strictly  limited.  On  May  7  Lord  Derby  stated  in 
the  House  of  Lords  that  the  Royal  Commission  ought 
to  inquire  into  all  the  Rubrics  which  prescribed  the 
mode  of  celebrating  Public  Worship — the  publication 
of  banns,  &c.  The  Commission  was  ultimately  estab- 
lished on  this  basis. 

Mr.  Walpole's  ^  letter,  inviting  the  Bishop  to  serve 
on  the  Commission,  says  : — • 

I  take  it  for  granted  that  you  will  be  so  good  as  to  serve 
on  the  Ritual  Commission.  Without  you,  it  would  be  the 
drama  of  Hamlet  without  Hamlet  himself.  We  are  going 
to  include  in  it  the  consideration  of  the  Lectionary. 

The  following  extract  from  a  letter  to  Sir  Charles 
Anderson  refers  to  the  dangers  of  this  proposed  legis- 
lation : — 

Sarsden,  March  10,  1867. 

I  liked  very  much  your  bit  about  Ritualism  in  the 
*  Guardian,'  ^  and  agree  in  your  estimate.  But  I  have  no 
patience  with  our  being  driven  to  legislate,  to  put  ourselves 
into  the  utterly  false  position  of  asking  for  more  power  from 
the  House  of  Commons,  tying  up  the  future  expansive  power 
of  the  Church  of  England  by  new  Acts  of  Parliament,  de- 
stroying the  liberty  of  congregations  and  the  restraining 
and  directing  power  of  the  Bishops.  ->  My  mission  work  here 
is,  I  trust,  prospering.  The  weather  very  wet ;  all  the 
ground  and  streets  this  morning  covered  with  snow. 

Notwithstanding  the  appointment  of  the  Royal 
Commission  and  the  withdrawal  from  intended  leels- 
lation  on  the  part  of  the  Archbishop,  Lord  Shaftesbury, 
on  May  14,  moved  the  second  reading  of  his  Bill,  In 
a  long   and  temperate  speech.     The   Archbishop   of 

•  Secretary  of  State  for  Home. 

'  A  letter  to  the  Guardian  about  Ritualism,  in  which  Sir  Charles  described 
the  Ritualists  '  as  people  whose  heads,'  according  to  an  expressive  Yorkshire  pro- 
vincial phrase,  'wanted  iiiseiisiiig.' 

V  2 


212  LIFE   OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.        chap.  viL 

Canterbury  moved  that  it  be  read  a  second  time  this 
day  two  months.  In  the  course  of  the  debate  the 
Bishop  spoke  in  favour  of  the  amendment,  and  in  the 
course  of  his  speech  thus  pleaded  for  toleration. 

The  English  people  never  had  borne,  and  he  trusted 
never  would  bear,  the  semblance  of  persecution.  The  Chuich 
of  England  was  not  a  Church  of  compromise,  but  of  compre- 
hension, embracing  within  her  fold  men  of  every  view  between 
those  who  absolutely  denied  her  primary  principles  and  those 
who  held  the  doctrines  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church,  which  she 
had  expressly  condemned.  In  that  comprehensiveness  it  was 
that  her  strength  lay.  Let  not  their  Lordships,  then,  with- 
out being  aware  of  what  they  were  doing,  by  legislation  give 
a  triumph  to  one  party  in  the  Church  over  another.  It  was 
no  secret,  and  nothing  could  be  gained  by  denying  the  fact, 
that  there  were  in  the  Church  of  England  men  who  went 
near  to  Rome  and  near  to  Geneva  ;  but  the  safety  of  that 
Church  which  was  the  greatest  bulwark  of  truth  would,  in  his 
opinion,  best  be  consulted  by  keeping  both  and  expelling 
neither.  That  end,  he  would  add,  could  only  be  accomplished 
by  great  forbearance  and  by  using  every  method  of  repressing 
the  evils  whose  existence  he  deplored,  before  having  recourse 
to  harsh  legislation. 

The  amendment  of  the  Archbishop  was  carried  by 
a  majority  of  15  in  a  House  of  107 — twenty  peers  not 
voting  but  pairing.  In  the  majority  were  two  Arch- 
bishops, Canterbury  and  Dublin,  and  six  Bishops  ;  in 
the  minority  eleven  Bishops,  Lord  Shaftesbury  did 
not  bring  the  Bill  on  again,  but  left  it  to  expire  with 
the  session.  The  diary  record  for  the  day  is  as 
follows : — 

]\Iay  14. — Morning,  letters.  Bishop  of  Armidale's  com- 
mittee. House  of  Lords:  Shaftesbury's  Bill  for  surplices ; 
spoke,  I  really  think,  with  good  effect.  Lord  Derby  having 
sent  Lord  Malmesbury  to  me  to  say  that  the  whips  reported 
that  he  was  in  a  minority,  and  must  give  up,  I  protested — 
carried  by  good  majority  of  15, 


186/.  LORD  SHAFTESBURY  ANSWERED.  213 

On  Thursday,  June  20,  during  a  debate  on  the 
list  of  Commissioners,  Lord  Shaftesbury  stated  that  he 
had  dedined  serving  on  the  Commission  because  he 
thought  that  men  who  held  extreme  opinions  should 
not  serve,  and  he  further  said  that  he  had  written  to 
Mr.  Walpole  saying  that,  in  his  opinion,  others  who 
had  taken  up  a  decided  attitude  on  this  question 
ought  not  to  be  on  the  Commission,  and  he  named  the 
Bishop  as  one  of  these. 

The  Bishop  of  Oxford  observed  that  the  noble 
Earl  had  done  him  the  honour  to  specify  his  name  as 
that  of  one  whose  opinions  were  too  extreme  to  make 
him  a  fit  member  of  the  Commission  which  had  been 
appointed  to  examine,  to  report,  and,  if  possible,  to 
adjust  the  difficult  and  delicate  questions  which  had 
arisen  as  to  extreme  ritual. 

'  Now,  I  challenge  the  noble  Earl,  in  the  face  of  the  House, 
to  produce  one  single  element  of  proof  for  the  assertion  that 
he  has  just  made,  that  I  am,  or  ever  have  been,  an  extreme 
man  in  this  matter.  My  actions  and  words  are  before  the 
Church.  I  have  done  all  in  my  power  to  repress  these 
extremes,  and  I  have  in  my  Charge  published  the  reasons 
why  I  have  endeavoured  to  repress  them  :  nay,  I  have  done 
more — I  have  been  successful  in  repressing  them  ;  and, 
whereas  in  other  dioceses  they  have  broken  out,  in  the 
diocese  of  Oxford  there  has  been  a  remarkable  absence  of 
them.  It  is  very  easy  for  the  noble  Lord  to  attack  me, 
though  he  knows  I  have  no  extreme  views,  and  though  he 
confesses  that  he  is  himself  an  extreme  man.  I  am  not  an 
extreme  man.  I  am  one  who  holds  that  middle  position  as  to 
doctrine  in  the  Church  that  Richard  Hooker  held,  for  holding 
which  as  long  as  he  lived  he  was  beset  by  the  Puritan  faction, 
and  for  maintaining  which  he  has  since  his  death  been 
universally  esteemed  by  the  Church  of  England.' 

The  Ritual  Commissioners,  twenty-nine  in  number, 
began  their  sittings  on  June   17.     They  met  nineteen 


214  LIFE   OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.        chap.  vil. 

times,  and  on  August  19  agreed  upon  their  Report.^ 
The  Report  was  not  issued  for  some  days,  the  delay 
being  occasioned  by  the  necessity  of  sending  it  to  the 
Commissioners  for  their  signature. 

Immediately  on  the  appointment  of  the  Com- 
mission, some  of  the  members  agreed  to  form  a  private 
committee  and  to  move  pari passzt  with  the  meetings  of 
the  Commissioners.  This  committee  consisted  of  Lord 
Beauchamp,  the  Bishop  of  Oxford,  the  Dean  of  Ely,^ 
Canon  Gregory,  the  Right  Hon.  Sir  R.  Phillimore, 
the  Right  Hon.  J.  G.  Hubbard,  the  Right  Hon. 
A.  J,  Beresford  Hope,  and  the  Rev.  T.  W.  Perry.  The 
Bishop  of  Gloucester  and  Bristol  joined,  but  after 
one  or  two  meetings  deserted  and  went  over  to  the 
other  side.  This  committee,  although  less  than  a  third 
of  the  whole  body,  was  enabled,  by  showing  a  united 
front,  to  really  guide  the  Commission,  and  to  virtually 
settle  the  Report.  At  the  final  meeting  two  draft  Re- 
ports were  submitted  for  consideration  by  the  Com- 
missioners: one  by  Mr.  Walpole,  the  other  by  Mr. 
Hubbard.  Mr.  Walpole  withdrew  his  in  favour  of 
Mr.  Hubbard's,  which,  with  a  few  alterations,  was 
adopted.  This  draft  Report,  as  the  diary  shows,  was 
in  reality  drawn  by  the  Bishop  ;  and  the  secret  of  its 
success  was  the  moderation  of  tone  and  the  judicious 
use  of  the  word  '  restrain '  with  regard  to  vestments, 
instead  of  the  word  '  abolish  '  or  '  prohibit.'  The  main 
body  of  the  Commissioners  failed  to  perceive  the 
elasticity  of  this  word,  which  in  fact  did  leave  a 
loophole  for  the  regulated  use  of  vestments.  Lord 
Beauchamp,  at  whose  house  these  meetings  were  held, 
thus  testifies  of  the  part  the  Bishop  took. 

I  cannot  refrain  from  writing  you  these  iew  lines  to  say 
how  fully  I  recognise  the  discretion  and  skill  with  which  you 

*  Appendix  B.  '  Now  Bishop  of  Carlisle. 


i867.  BR.  PUSEY  ON  THE  REPORT.  215 

have  steered  us.     How  others  could  have  been  brought  to 
agree  I  cannot  divine.     Our  escape  has  been  marvellous. 

That  the  Report  did  not  satisfy  either  the  promoters 
or  the  opponents  of  extreme  Ritualistic  practices  is  not 
to  be  wondered  at.  The  tone  of  the  Low  Church 
organs  abundantly  proves  that  from  their  point  of  view 
the  condemnation  was  not  sufficiently  sweeping.  The 
opinions  of  the  other  side,  as  expressed  by  Dr.  Pusey, 
who  may  be  fairly  looked  upon  as  representing  the 
party,  were  as  follows  : — 

It  seems  to  me  a  complete  extirpation  of  the  vestments, 
root  and  branch.  I  cannot  conceive  the  work  done  more 
completely,  though  it  might  have  been  done  in  a  more  pain- 
ful way.  It  is  an  absolute  and  complete  defeat.  It  would 
have  been  far  better  to  have  had  all  Shaftesbury's  Bill  and 
let  him  do  his  worst. 

The  Bishop's  diary  throws  some  light  on  the 
discussions  of  the  Ritual  Commissioners,  and  is  as 
follows  : — 

Jtme  17. — Morning,  off  for  London  for  first  meeting  of 
Ritual  Commission.  Settled  general  plan  of  operations, 
inquiry,  and  witness,  contra  Harrowby  and  London,  who  were 
for  instant  decision. 

June  20. — Early  church  ;  letters  ;  breakfast  at  Gladstone's 
— Lothians,  Mill,  Phillimore,  Lady  Herbert,  Doyle,  Lyttelton. 
Ritual  Commission — examined  D.  Wilson,  who  manly  and 
straightforward,  and  partly  examined  Le  Geyt. 

Three  or  four  meetings  took  place  between  the 
date  of  the  last  and  the  following  entry,  evidence 
being  taken  at  them. 

July  15. — With  Lord  Stanhope  to  Ritual  Commission  ; 
began  to  consider  loosely  about  Report.  No  light  yet.  At 
4.20  broke  up. 

July   25.— Ecclesiastical  Commission,  and  then    all   day 


2 1 6  LIFE  OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.        chap.  vir. 

ritual.  Bishop  of  Gloucester,  as  always,  now  hot  and  intem- 
perate in  trying  to  force  on  condemnation  of  chasuble.  I 
said  the  Church  of  England  was  the  Church  of  liberty.  The 
Bishop  of  Gloucester :  '  Let  them  go  to  Rome  ;  why  not  .-*  a 
very  good  communion — next  best  to  ours.' 

July  29. — To  London  after  breakfast,  and  with  Phillimore 
to  Ritual  Commission.  Long  struggle  to  get  reference  to 
legal  part.  Bishop  of  Gloucester  again  violent :  I  spoke  alone 
strongly  to  him  afterwards — I  think  with  effect.  Then 
House  ;  Reform.  Dined  E.  Hamilton's,  Sir  F.  Doyle  and 
J.  Bright  there.  A  great  deal  of  talk  with  Bright  ;  he  said  : 
*  Dual  vote  most  false  ;  instead  of  two  or  three  for  Birmingham, 
this  would  make  it  only  one  on  a  division.'  He  spoke  of  the 
cruelty  and  injustice  of  making  elder  sons. 

August  \. — Early  to  town.  Breakfast,  Beauchamp's.  Long 
discussion  ;  resolution  as  to  '  Liberty.'  Ecclesiastical  Com- 
mission. Ritual  Commission  ;  long  and  weary  discussion. 
House  of  Lords  ;  Church  rates  put  off.  Dined  at  Skinners' 
Hall.  Back  to  House  ;  voted  against  Earl  Grey's  resolution. 
Late  to  bed. 

August  5. — Off  at  7.10;  prosperous  journey.'  Conimis- 
sion  ;  all  day  strong  against  a  vote  of  no  allowance  of  vest- 
ments in  parish  churches — beat,  13  to  9.  Bishop  of  Gloucester, 
as  usual,  all  the  heat  of  a  deserter  against  me.^  Very  much 
down.     May  God  avert  the  evil  I  dread  ! 

August  12.  Morning,  wrote.  After  breakfast,  to  London. 
Ritual  Commission  ;  question,  whether  Bishop  complained  to 
should  be  forced  to  inhibit,  fact  being  proved  .''     Divided — aye. 

August  \^. — Breakfast,  8.  Off  to  London.  Commission; 
agreed  on  resolution  of  Bishop  of  London. 

The  meeting  at  Lord  Beauchamp's  had  agreed  on 
August  9  to  support  this  resolution.^ 

'  From  the  Isle  of  Wight. 

-  The  Bishop's  diary  of  May  6  shows  that  he,  the  Bishop,  was  mainly  instru- 
mental in  getting  the  Bishop  of  Gloucester  on  the  Commission.  It  says  :  '  Bishop  of 
Gloucester  wanting  exceedingly  to  be  on  Commission,  I  spoke  to  the  Archbishop, 
who  said  he  would  do  all  he  could  for  it.' 

^  This  resolution  was  to  the  effect  that  all  who  had  committed  themselves 
with  regard  to  vestments  should  not  be  disturbed,  unless  they  were  complained  of. 


1 86;.  DOCTRINE  EXCLUDED.  21/ 

August  19. — Up  early  ;  prayers  and  office  ;  breakfast,  8. 
Off  at  8. 30  with  Stanhope,  Beauchamp,  and  Meynell 
Ingram  for  town.  Ritual  Commission ;  long  debate  on 
draft  report  I  had  drawn  up  on  Tuesday  the  13th,  and 
given  Hubbard  to  circulate — substantially  adopted.  Kept  in 
town  till  5.  Grand  thunderstorm,  first  seen  in  Portsmouth 
from  train. 

The  following  letter  was  written  by  the  Bishop  to  his 
son  Ernest,  to  explain  some  passages  in  the  Report 
which  he,  Ernest,  had  misunderstood  : — 

September  14,  1S67. 

My  beloved  Ernest,— I  do  not  think  you  have  formed  at 
all  a  right  judgment  of  the  Report  of  the  Ritual  Commission, 
or,  of  course,  I  should  not  have  been  able  to  sign  it. 

1.  It  concerns  only  vestments  which  have  lojig  been 
unused  in  the  Church  of  England.  It  has  no  reference 
therefore  whatever  to  such  usages  as  you  speak  of;  raising 
the  service  from  the  Belgrave  level  to  yours  or  the  like.  It 
simply  declares  that  we  think  it  expedient  that  the  dress  of 
the  officiating  clergyman  should,  as  a  common  rule,  be  the 
one  long  used,  and  which  satisfied  Andrewes,  Cosin,  Taylor, 
Hammond,  and  the  like. 

2.  Every  allusion  to  doctrine  is  most  carefully  shut  out, 
and  the  '  restraining  power '  we  recommend  is  not  to  be 
employed  at  the  sole  will  even  of  the  Bishop.  It  is  only 
where  three  communicants  (at  least)  complain  that  they  are 
disturbed  by  the  reintroduction  without  authority  of  these 
unused  dresses  that  the  Bishop  is  to  interfere. 

3.  The  strongest  witnesses  all  declared  that  they  did  not 
consider  the  vestments  essential.  How  could  they,  when 
none  of  the  holders  of  the  sacramental  view  for  300  years 
have  ever  used  them  in  our  Church,  when  they  certainly  are 
not  primitive,  nor  of  such  early  use  as  the  surplice  at  the 
celebration  .'' 

4.  I  cannot  agree  as  to  the  unfortunateness  of  the  lan- 
guage. I  was  most  anxious,  for  the  sake  of  the  Ritualists, 
that  there  should  be  no  making  of  the  vestments  in  them- 
selves illegal  ;  because — 


2 1 8  LIFE   OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.        chap.  vii. 

1.  This  would,  to  a  certain  degree,  have  altered  the 
standing  of  the  English  Church. 

2.  It  would  have  prevented  any  use  of  them  where  the 
people  do  not  object. 

3.  It  would  have  stood  in  the  way  of  any  such  gradual 
return  to  a  higher  class  as  alone,  can  I  think,  be  useful. 

The  Commission  had  not  the  question  of  legality  sub- 
mitted to  it — nothing  but  a  trial  in  a  Court  and  a  judicial 
decision  would  settle  that— and  it  would  be  z. great  risk;  for 
the  decision  would  probably  turn  on  doctrine,  and,  con- 
stituted as  our  Courts  are,  would  too  probably  decide  against 
some  of  the  Church's  highest  doctrines.  There  is  not  in  the 
Report  one  word  which  ought  to  resist  the  movement  you 
speak  of  separate  from  this  one  troubled  question  of  vest- 
ments. I  may  tell  you  in  confidence  that  in  our  fuller  resolu- 
tions we  have  not  applied  this  even  to  coloured  stoles.  You 
see  that  except  you  had  adopted  these  vestments  no  one  in 
the  parish  would  be  armed  against  you,  and  the  Church  has 
at  all  times  let  her  Bishops  make,  as  we  propose,  temporary 
rules  concerning  the  particular  habits  the  clergy  should  wear 
in  public  worship.  I  feel  sure  if  you  had  been  on  the  Com- 
mission you  would  have  shared  my  thankful  surprise  at  what 
%vc  were  able  to  bring  the  first  proposals  down  to.  .  .  . 


1867.  DEBATE   ON  COLONIAL   CHURCH.  219 


CHAPTER   VIII. 

{1867.) 

DEBATE  ON  STATUS  OF  COLONIAL  CHURCH— BISHOP'S  SI'EECH  ON— DIARY — 
CONVERSATION  WITH  MR.  BRIGHT — INCREASE  OF  THE  EPISCOPATE  — 
LETTER  ON  SUFFRAGAN  BISHOPS — LETTER  TO  MR.  GORDON — VISIT  TO 
BRIGHTSTONE— SPEECH  TO  SUNDAY  SCHOOL  TEACHERS— LETTER  TO  BISHOP 
MILMAN — THE  PAN-ANGLICAN  CONFERENCE— LETTER  TO  SIR  C.  ANDER- 
SON— DIARY — CONVERSATIONS  WITH  LORD  CLARENDON — REOPENING  OF 
CHICHESTER   CATHEDRAL — LETTER   TO   MR.    GORDON. 

The  diary  of  February  2  thus  records  die  consecration 
at  Canterbury  of  the  Rev.  Robert  Milman  to  the 
Bishopric  of  Calcutta  : — 

February  2. — Up  early.  Beautiful  morning.  Cathedral ; 
fine  service  :  dear  Milman,  he  much  affected.  Back  with 
the  Archbishop  to  London.  Dined  Farquhar's — Gladstone, 
&c. ;  he  full  of  Italy  ;  very  interesting  talk  of  interview  with 
the  Pope. 

FcbriLary  14. —  Convocation  breakfast,  and  then  Ecclesias- 
tical Commission  ;  then  S.P.G.  Leave-taking  of  dear  Milman. 
I  dined  at  the  Albion  with  Surgeons,  and  then  went  to  Sir 
W.  Milman's  for  last  sight  of  Milman. 

February  15. — Convocation  breakfast  ;  then  Convocation; 
letters.  House  of  Lords  :  debate  on  Colonial  Church.  Dined 
Sir  W.  Farquhar's  ;  Granville,  &c. — a  pleasant  party. 

The  debate  referred  to  on  the  Colonial  Church  was 
raised  by  the  Bishop  of  London  moving  for  certain 
despatches  and  papers.  The  Bishop  of  London,  in  his 
speech,  showed  that  he  thought  the  Colonial  Church, 
where  not  established  by  law,  should  yet  be  so  far 
under  the  supremacy  of  the   Crown  as  that  appeals 


2  20  LIFE  OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.      chap.  viii. 

in  ecclesiastical  causes  should  be  heard  in  die  same 
manner  as  English  appeals.  This  speech  drew  from 
Lord  Carnarvon,  the  Secretary  of  State  for  the 
Colonies,  a  lucid  statement  of  the  real  position 
of  Colonial  Churches.  Bishop  Wilberforce,  who 
thanked  Lord  Carnarvon  for  his  clear  statement,  and 
for  the  utterance  of  sentiments  of  liberality  towards 
the  colonies  and  of  desire  for  freedom  of  religion, 
said  : — 

It  should  be  remembered  that  the  Church  of  England  in 
the  colonies  was  a  purely  voluntary  body,  like  the  Wesleyans 
or  any  other  body  of  religionists  having  an  internal  regulation 
of  its  own  but  having  no  connection  with  the  Crown  except 
as  subjects  of  the  Queen.  It  was  a  misapprehension  to 
suppose  that  the  Church  in  the  colonies  had  the  same  power 
of  appeal  to  the  Privy  Council  as  the  Church  at  home.  The 
Queen's  supremacy  was  an  essential  part  of  an  Established 
Church.  But  what  was  the  meaning  of  an  Established 
Church  .''  That  it  possessed  property  ?  No  ;  it  meant  that 
instead  of  being  a  voluntary  and  tolerated  society  it  was  a 
legal  corporation,  with  internal  powers  that  were  recognised 
by  the  Queen's  Courts.  The  Queen  could  not  create  the 
smallest  spiritual  Court  in  the  colonies.  To  ask  the  colonists 
to  look  for  a  remedy  in  the  supremacy  of  the  Crown  was  to 
offer  them  an  illusion.  .  .  .  The  connection  between  the 
Colonial  Church  and  the  Church  at  home  was  not  to  be 
maintained  by  illusory  documents  or  high-sounding  claims. 
It  was  to  be  maintained  by  allowing  the  Church  in  the 
colonies  to  develop  for  itself  the  true  Church  of  England 
temper,  profession  of  faith,  doctrine,  and  internal  government; 
thus  giving  it  the  help  they  could  give  it  to  stand  up  among 
free  men  there,  itself  there  a  free  Church,  among  free  re- 
ligionists a  free  religion.  They  must  not  put  them  off  from 
what  would  be  an  abiding  reality  and  teach  them  to  trust  to 
what,  when  they  came  to  tr}'  it,  would  prove  a  broken  reed. 

March  12. — Up  early.  Meditated  address  on  '  Times  of 
refreshing.'  To  Conference,  but  not  enough  to  confer. 
Wrote.     Drove  to  Spilsbury  in  driving  snow  ;  Confirmation. 


1867.  CHIPPING  NORTON  MISSION.  22  1 

Then  Westbury  ;  confirm  and  preach  on  '  Receive  not  in 
vain  ; '  grand  congregation.     On  in  snow  to  Ramsden. 

March  14. — Much  snow.  In  with  Barter  and  Miss 
Barter  to  Chipping  Norton.  Early  communion ;  Carter 
admirable  ;  supernatural,  but  non-material  conveyance  of 
Himself ;  His  indwelling  ;  tests — awe,  strength,  prayer.  By 
rail  to  Milton.  Nice  Confirmation.  Drove  through  drifts 
hardly  to  Seafield  ;  very  nice  Confirmation.  Then  drove  to 
Sarsden. 

March  15. —  Confirmation  at  Church  Hill.  Then  in  to 
Chipping  Norton  ;  burial-ground  consecrated  and  preached. 
Then  letters.  Addressed  working  men.  Then  dined  at 
Rawlinson's  ;  Burrows  there.     Very  cold  night. 

March  16. — Morning,  read  and  wrote.  Drove  with  Barter 
and  Archdeacon  to  Lockwood  Kings.  A  very  nice  Con- 
firmation ;  altogether  nicest  this  year.  Very  cold.  Service 
and  charge.  Then  dinner  at  'White  Hart.'  Speech  from 
Bishop  of  Newfoundland,  and  home. 

March  17. — Half-past  10  Ordination  service.  Bishop  of 
Newfoundland  preached  a  very  good  sermon,  but  too  long. 
I  ordained  my  Basil  with  great  comfort.  What  an  answer  to 
prayer  !  Read,  and  prepared  sermon  on  Heaven.  A  large 
and  most  attentive  congregation. 

March  24. — Windsor.  Morning,  fully  prepared  sermon. 
Nervous  because  unwritten,  and  so  few.  Preached  with  in- 
terest. Walked  with  Dean  and  Northcote.  Dined  with 
Queen,  Prince  and  Princess  Christian  :  he  dull,  but  seeming 
good.  They  evidently  very  fond  of  each  other.  I  next  to 
Princess  Louise,  who  very  pleasant,  and  so  Prince  Alfred. 

March  27. — Confirmation,  and  a  fairly  nice  one. 's 

manner  odd,  ultra-Irish,  i.e.  sort  of  frankness  which  does  not 
breed  confidence.  To  Wootton — the  least  pleasing  Con- 
firmation this  round  ;  consecrated  addition  to  churchyard. 
On  to  Woodstock  ;  Confirmation  ;  a  very  nice  set.  To  Kirt- 
lington,  where  my  dear  Ernest  and  F.  So  happy  to  meet 
them. 

April  II. — London.  Off  for  Wellington  College.  At 
Wokingham,  where  Fosbcry.  A  very  nice  Confirmation.  Wrote 
a  good  deal.     To  Caverston,  meeting  E.  and  F.,  Cust,  &c.,  at 


22  2  LIFE   OF  BISHOP    IVILBERFORCE.      chap.  viii. 

Reading.  Rode  with  E.  to  Caversham — nice  Confirmation. 
To  Coppice,  the  Phillimores,  Richard  Cavendish  ;  all  friendly 
and  pleasant. 

April  12. — I,  Miss  Phillimore,  and  Ernest  rode  to  Greys 
Kidmore  End,  by  Woodcote  and  Whitchurch  to  Maple 
Durham  and  home.  Three  very  nice  Confirmations  ;  a  delight- 
ful ride. 

On  the  next  morning,  before  he  left  the  Coppice 
to  hold  another  Confirmation,  the  Bishop  called  for 
assistance  in  disposing  of  his  letters.  He  settled  him- 
self at  a  large  table  in  the  library  window,  and  there 
dictated  four  letters,  each  on  a  different  subject  to  the 
four  Secretaries  he  had  acquired,  writing  the  while  a 
fifth  letter  himself.  In  this  way  much  work  was  got 
through,  the  Bishop  keeping  every  thread  perfectly- 
distinct  and  requiring  merely  the  last  word  of  the 
sentence  to  dictate  to  each  the  next  portion  of  her 
letter. 

April  19. — Oxford.  Service  at  All  Souls.  To  university 
sermon,  Christ  Church.  Dean  Liddell  preached  a  remarkable 
sermon  on  Lord's  Supper  ;  growth  from  simple  form  of  paschal 
commemoration  ;  entire  omission  of  This  is  my  body.  Scorn- 
ful throughout  in  manner,  but  striking.  Full  of  toleration  for 
ritualists  with  willing  congregations.  Then  confirmed  at 
St.  Philip  and  St.  James.  After,  rode  with  Warden  of  All 
Souls  to  Garsington  ;  confirmed.  Then  to  Cuddesdon  with 
Basil.  Baby  charming  ;  beginning  to  show  intelligence.  Back 
to  Warden's  for  night. 

May  4. — Grillion's  breakfast.  Called  at  Winchester 
House.  With  Anderson  to  photographer.  Wrote  for 
two  or  three  hours.  The  Academy  dinner.  Speaking  poor 
and  long.  The  Prince  of  Wales  spoke  as  well  as  any 
one — wonderfully  improved.  He  gave  me  a  really  good 
account  of  the  Princess  :  talked  about  his  little  boys,  &c. 
Down  with  Bishop  of  London  to  Fulham,  where  very  kindly 
received. 

May   21. — Church.      Academy.      Then   to   French   and 


1 867.  CONVERSATION   WITH  MR.   BRIGHT.  223 

British  Institutions.  That  unspeakable  depression  last  night 
and  to-day  which  sometimes  visits  me.  A  longing  for 
satisfied  affection,  which  is  not  satisfied.  O  Lord,  let  it  bind 
me  to  THEE  in  whom  is  all  my  spirit  longs  for.  House  of 
Lords.  Rode  with  Bishop  of  Gloucester  to  South  Kensington. 
Dined  at  the  Admiralty.  Lord  H.  Lennox,  Prince  of  Wales, 
Duke  of  Edinburgh,  Due  dAumale,  Disraeli,  Spencers,  Lady 
C.  Bingham. 

May  22. — Church.  Breakfasted  South  Kensington.  Bounty 
Board  on  Suffragans.  Carried  all  with  me  except  the 
Bishop  of  London,  who  not  strong,  only  wanting  help.  Snow- 
storm. Spoke  at  Additional  Curates.  University  Assurance. 
Hermit's  winning  the  Derby.  Dined  Bishop  of  Ely's,  Arch- 
bishop of  Canterbury,  Bishop  of  Gloucester,  Lord  and  Lady 
Cranworth.     News  of  Lady  Chichester's  sudden  death. 

May  25. — Church.  After  breakfast  to  Sons  of  Clergy. 
Then  to  the  Athenaeum  to  prepare  sermon.  Convocation 
Committee  on  Diocesan  Synods  at  Bishop  of  Winchester's. 
Colonial  Church  Council.  Rode  with  Bishop  of  Gloucester. 
Dined  at  Lord  Stanhope's  to  meet  Antiquaries. 

May  26. — Morning.  Prepared  sermon  on  'Whatsoever 
ye  ask,'  and  preached  at  King's  College  Chapel.  Afternoon 
prepared  for  Westminster  Abbey  :  on  Jacob's  ladder.  Vast 
congregation — 1,000  turned  away  from  doors. 

May  29. — Church.  Seeing  many,  inter  alios  dear  Henry 
suffering  from  threat  of  abscess.  God  be  gracious  to  him. 
Meeting  of  Book  Hawking  Society.  University  Assurance  : 
just  carried  R.  Cavendish.  Halifax,  Hardy,  and  I  much  talk 
on  constitution  of  Commission  on  Ritualism.  Dined  Glad- 
stone's :  Spencers,  Lord  Cowper,  Bright,  Glynne,  and  Adams. 
Bright  talked  a  great  deal.  Studies  his  speeches  ;  prepares 
his  illustrations  and  quotations.  Had  prepared  both  Cave  ^ 
and  Dog.  Reads  a  great  deal  of  Milton — almost  daily.  Must 
come  under  new  system  to  ballot. 

Part  of  this  conversation  the  Bishop  used  to  repeat 
very  much  as  follows  : — 

■  The  Cave  of  Adullam,  i  Sam.  xxii.  1,2.  '  Where  every  one  that  was  in 
debt,  and  every  one  that  was  discontented,  gathered  themselves  unto  him  ;  and 
he  became  a  captain  over  them.' 


224  Z/Fi£"   OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.      chap.  viii. 

Bright  said  he  always  prepared  his  illustrations.  I 
said,  '  Not  always,  surely,  because  I  can  give  you  an 
instance  when  it  was  impossible  that  you  could  have 
prepared.  You  remember  w^hen  you  likened  Bob 
Lowe  to  the  ladies'  white  pug  dog  that  was  so  fat  that 
you  could  not  tell  his  head  from  his  tail.  Well,  now, 
when  you  used  that,  you  had  been  suddenly  attacked, 
and  it  was  impossible  that  you  could  have  prepared  It.' 
Bright  replied  :  'It  is  true  all  the  same.  I  had  pre- 
pared it  for  a  former  speech,  but  while  I  was  speaking 
I  looked  at  Lowe  and  my  heart  melted  and  I  left  it 
out,  but  when  on  the  occasion  you  mention  he  attacked 
me,  then  I  had  no  pity  and  I  gave  him  the  dog! 

June  21. — To  Bounty  Board  for  school  question.  Wrote 
till  2.15.  Then  rode  with  R.  Denman.  Then  to  House,  and 
after  two  struggles  carried  Bill — ist,  for  keeping  clause 
permitting  Ecclesiastical  Commissioners  on  certain  terms  to 
aid  new  Bishops'  endowments  (this  versus  Shaftesbury) ; 
2nd,  against  Grey's  suffragans.  Glad  to  throw  this  out,  yet 
so  vexed  to  oppose  and  beat  the  Archbishop  that  I  was  quite 
sad. 

The  Bill  here  referred  to  was  introduced  by  Lord 
Lyttelton  for  '  Increase  of  the  Episcopate.'  It  contained 
two  propositions  :  one  for  the  creation  of  new  sees, 
the  other  for  the  appointment  of  suffragan  Bishops. 
The  Bill  passed  the  House  of  Lords,  and  was  In- 
troduced into  the  House  of  Commons  by  Sir  Roundell 
Palmer.  The  Commons  inserted  a  clause  providing 
that  the  Bishops  of  the  new  sees  were  not  to  have 
seats  in  the  House  of  Lords. ^  This  clause  the  House 
of  Lords  refused  to  accept,  and  the  Bill  was  in  conse- 
quence lost. 

"  Or,  as  the  Bishop  of  London  observed,   making   '  four  Sodor's  and  Man 
instead  of  one.' 


1867.  VISIT  TO  SONNING.  225 

July  4.— Down  by  10  train  after  letters  to  Oxford,  St. 
Mary's,  where  Woodford  preached  excellently  on  Incarnation. 
Dull  papers  from  Perowne  and  Chamberlain.  Symptoms  of 
warm  debate,  which  I  quieted.  After  dinner  a  few  letters. 
Evening  discussion  good  on  alienation  of  lower  orders. 

July  5. — Up  early.  Communion  at  St.  Mary's.  Papers 
by  Deans  of  Cork  and  Ely  excellent.  Then  a  good  discussion. 
Walk  with  Dean  of  Ely.  Evening  church  and  sermon  by 
Payne  Smith.  Evening  discussion  good,  but  I  fear  I  was 
carried  away.     God  forgive  me. 

July  6. — Up  before  6  and  prepared  sermon  on  '  He  taught 
as  one  having  authority.'  All  well  pleased,  Then  wrote. 
Saw  candidates  for  orders,  &c.  Off  at  5  for  Reading  with 
Archdeacon  Randall  and  Vice-Chancellor.  Walked  with 
V.C.  to  Sonning.  A  lovely  evening  and  most  soothing  walk. 
Then  met  Hugh  Pearson  near  Sonning.  Dinner — Colonel 
Knyvett,  Vice-Chancellor,  H.  Pearson,  and  curate.  Happy 
evening. 

July  21. — (Lavington).  Prepared  and  preached  morning 
sermon  on  '  Depart  from  me.'  Then  walked  with  Bishop  of 
Lincoln,  &c.  Preached  afternoon  on  David  in  God's  strength 
defeating  Goliath.  Walked  up  hill.  Read  Keble  and  some 
Gerontius.    Pleasant  evening. 

Jtdy  23. — Reform  debate  in  House  of  Lords.  Lord 
Cairns'  the  speech.  Shaftesbury's  Jeremiad  expressing  much 
my  fears.  Carnarvon's  speech  yesterday  too  severe.  Derby's 
answer  warm. 

July  31. — (Middleton  Stony).      Beautiful    morning.      To 

Church.     Walked  about   with    Ernest   and   F .      Ernest 

drove  me  over  to  Heyford  only  just  in  time.  To  town  and 
wrote.  University  Assurance  ;  and  down  with  Sir  F.  Pollock. 
Walked  about  his  grounds  with  the  good  old  man,  82  years 
old.  Full  of  love  of  life  and  of  nature.  A  happy,  thankful 
existence.  Matthew  Arnold  and  wife  dined  ;  at  9.30  Sir 
F.  went  to  bed. 

August  3. — (Niton,  Isle  of  Wight).  After  breakfast  off 
with  E ,3  I  driving  Mr 's  horse  to  Brighstonc.     Most 

^  The  Bishop's  daughter. 

VOL.  in.  Q 


2  26  LIFE   OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.       chap.  Vlll. 

kindly  received  by  Moberlys,  over   house,  church,  &c.,  down 

to  shore.     E remembering  many  things,  and  I  able  to 

talk  with  her  on  all.     The  past  all  around  me.     All  God's 

doings  with  me  since  1841.  Drove  home  with  E .   Dinner 

and  bed. 

The  same  day  the  Bishop  writes  to  his  son  Ernest : 
'  I  feel  to-day  like  a  wrung-out  napkin.  I  am  going 
over  to  Brighstone  to-day  to  see  my  old  paradise.  Oh  ! 
would  that  I  had  been  worthier  of  it ! ' 

Aiigjist  Af — Brighstone,  Morning  prepared  sermon  on 
*  went  forth,'  Mark  viii.  Nice  congregation.  Forty  years  since 
I  worshipped  here  with  my  Emily  and  the  Sargents.  These 
fo'  ty  y^ars  in  the  Wilderness.  Tried  hard  to  pray.  Miserere 
Domine. 

rrom  Danny,  in  Sussex,  the  Bishop  writes  to  Arch- 
bishop Trench  about  the  doings  of  the  Ritual  Com- 
mission : — 

The  Bishop  of  Oxford  to  Archbishop  Trench. 

August  14,  1867. 

I  am  down  for  3  days  with  our  common  and  dear  friends 
the  Campions,  having  engaged  to  speak  near  here  for  Wood- 
ard's  Schools.  The  eldest  son,  a  charming  fellow,  fills  me 
with  apprehension  for  my  friends  here  by  his  look  and  by  a 
cough  left  by  an  attack  of  pleurisy. 

I  am  returning  to-day  to  Cuddesdon  to  preach  to  my  Col- 
lege to-night,  but  have  to  return  to-morrow  for  two  meetings 
of  the  Ritual  Commission,  which  we  hope  may  wind  up  our 
sittings  until  November.  I  think  it  probable  we  shall  utter 
now  on  the  Vestments  of  the  Minister.  There  is  no  lack  of 
strength  in  the  Low  Church  party  in  our  body.  They  out- 
number and  out-talk  all  of  another  way  of  thinking  ;  and  the 
end  is  not  easy  to  foresee. 

May  God  keep  us,  dearest  friend,  through  this  troublous 
time  and  gather  us  at  last  to  His  rest ! 

To  Mr.  Gordon  the  Bishop  writes,  and  describes 


i867.        ADVICE   TO  SUNDAY-SCHOOL   TEACHERS.       22/ 

one   of  those   pleasant   parties   which   the  late   Lord 
Stanhope  used  to  gather  together  at  Chevening  : — 

Chevening,  August  i8,  1867. 

You  know  this  place  and  my  host  and  hostess.  I  came 
down  here  on  Friday  till  to-morrow,  when  the  Ritual  Com- 
mission carries  me  back  to  London.  It  is  a  pleasant  party, 
and  will  bring  back,  I  think,  old  associations  to  you  when  I 
enumerate  the  names.  There  is  Motley  and  Lord  and  Lady 
Sydney — she  was  always  a  favourite  of  mine — and  Lord  Beau- 
champ,  always  a  very  good  and  nice  fellow,  but,  I  think,  an 
improvement  in  many  ways  on  F.  Lygon  ;  and  Delane  as 
fresh  as  ever  ;  Meynell  Ingram  and  his  charming  wife.  Lord 
Halifax's  daughter.  No  one  even  guesses  at  the  political 
future :  whether  a  fresh  election  will  strengthen  the  Con- 
servatives or  not  seems  altogether  doubtful.  The  most  won- 
derful thing  is  the  rise  of  Disraeli.  It  is  not  the  mere  assertion 
of  talent,  as  you  hear  so  many  say.  It  seems  to  me  quite 
beside  that.  He  has  been  able  to  teach  the  House  of  Com- 
mons almost  to  ignore  Gladstone ;  and  at  present  lords  it 
over  him,  and,  I  am  told,  says  that  he  will  hold  him  down  for 
twenty  years. 

On  August  22,  the  Bishop  presided  at  a  Conference 
of  Sunday-school  teachers  at  Newport,  Isle  of  Wight. 
The  Bishop  summed  up  the  proceedings  of  the  day. 
He  said  children  taught  at  the  Sunday  schools  might 
be  divided  into  two  classes  :  those  who  attended  all 
the  week  and  those  who  attended  only  on  the  Sunday. 
He  pointed  out  the  great  benefit  which  accrued  to  the 
Church  and  to  the  parish  in  retaining  hold  of  those  boys 
of  fourteen  and  fifteen  who  had  left  the  regular  school 
and  could  only  attend  on  the  Sunday.  He  warned 
the  teachers  against  mixing  the  classes.  He  said  many 
of  these  elder  ones  left  the  Sunday  school,  and  would 
not  attend  because  they  were  put  with  the  infants ; 
and  he  illustrated  this  with  a  happy  simile  :  'The  rook 
never  frequented  the  same  ground  with  the  starling, 


Q2 


2  28  LIFE   OF  BISHOP    WILBEKFORCE.       chap.  viii. 

who  was  a  busy  talkative  gentleman  ;  but  the  rook  was 
a  quiet  sort  of  fellow,  and  therefore,  when  a  starling 
came  near,  the  rook  looked  at  him  with  a  peculiar  cock 
of  the  eye  and  then  flew  away.'  The  Bishop  impressed 
on  the  teachers  present  the  necessity  of  kind  dealing 
with  the  younger  children. 

Sunday  was  as  much  a  day  of  rest  for  children  as  for 
grown-up  people,  and  it  was  a  mistaken  idea  to  take  children, 
whom  God  made  volatile,  who  could  not  be  still  for  a  moment, 
because  it  was  their  nature,  who  were  always  dropping  off  to 
sleep  on  the  benches  they  sat  on,  because  they  needed  sleep, 
and  would  begin  to  whisper  and  laugh  to  one  another,  because 
they  needed  that  sort  of  thing  just  as  much  as  the  bee  needed 
to  go   buz — \\7.,  when  he  flies  about — to  take  little  creatures 
whom  God  had  made  in  this  way,  sit  them  on  a  hard  bench 
and  make  horrid  faces  at  them  when  they  began  to  buzz,  or 
knock  them  on  the  head  if  they  went  to  sleep,  was,  as  he  had 
said  before,  a  wrong  idea.     In  his  experience,  Sunday-school 
teachers  failed   very   much  because  they  acted  on  the  '  Be 
good  '  system  ;  their  great  object  seemed  to  be  to  keep  dinning 
the  children's  ears  with  '  Be  good,  be  good,  be  good.'     That 
seemed  in  many  instances  to  be  the  beginning  and  end  of  all 
teaching,  and  a  marvellously  unfruitful  teaching  it  would  be 
for  either  man,  woman,  or  child.  .  .  .  To  bring  his  remarks 
to  a  close,  he  would  say,  love  the  Sunday-school  children, 
make  them  happy  ;  give  them  in  little  teaching  as  much  as 
they  could  individually  ;  never  let  them  get  tired  ;  if  they  went 
to  sleep,  don't  wake  them  ;  let  them  kick  their  legs  about  when 
sitting  on  the  bench,  if  they  like  ;  let  them  have  as  much 
rest  as  possible,  so  as  to  keep  their  minds  in  a  state  of  recep- 
tivity ;  and  don't  expect  a  great  deal  immediately  from  the 
teaching.     It  was  the  bringing   a   younger,  less  taught,  and 
less  disciplined  mind  under  the  gradual  influence  of  an  older, 
better  taught,  and  a  more  disciplined  mind  which  did  the 
work. 

The  diary  entry  for  the  day  is  : — 
August  22. — Up  early.     Read  ofiice   and   Avrote   before 
breakfast.     Then  Brighstone  and  saw  Mrs.  M'Call.     On  to 


1867.  LETTER   TO  BISHOP  MILMAN.  229 

Brook.  Wonderful  view  towards  Isle  of  Purbeck.  The  cliffs 
setting  down  into  the  water  like  the  land  which  is  far  away. 
Home  and  many  to  luncheon.  Conference.  Preached  on 
Daniel's  vision,  'Ancient  of  Days.' 

Writing  to  Bishop  Milman,  the  Bishop  thus  touches 
upon  some  of  the  current  Church  topics  : — 

August  27,  1867. 

All  I  hav^e  heard  from  you,  and  of  you,  has  interested 
me  intensely,  and  anything  I  can  do  to  aid  you  in  carrying 
out  your  designs  for  God's  glory  in  India  I  shall  indeed  find 
it  a  joy  to  do  ;  so  pray  freely  use  me  whenever  you  can. 

This  has  been  a  year  of  extraordinary  employment  and 
deep  anxiety.  The  Ritual  question,  the  defeat  of  Shaftesbury's 
short  and  easy  method  of  persecution,  the  gaining  of  the 
Ritual  Commission  instead,  and,  since  that,  the  management 
of  the  Commission  so  as  to  prevent  a  schism,  have  required 
prayer  and  thought  and  labour  more  than  anything  I  have 
known  before.  I  trust  that,  through  God's  mercy,  we  have 
agreed  on  a  first  Report  which  will  tend  to  the  quietness  and 
safety  of  the  Church.  We  have  now  a  very  anxious  matter 
in  the  Pan-Anglican  Synod.  We  cannot  act  synodically  ; 
and  yet  to  meet  and  not  to  act  has  a  damaging  air  of  weak- 
ness. The  great  practical  difficulty  is  Colenso.  Passing  him 
over  is  a  practical  recognition  of  the  excommunication  which 
is  of  no  small  value  ;  and  yet  being  silent  when  the  Church, 
if  she  could,  certainly  ought  to  speak,  is  no  small  evil  and 
must  be  a  scandal.  May  God  deliver  us  from  all  our  mani- 
fold difficulties  !  In  this  pressure  I  am  often  tempted  to 
believe  that  the  days  of  our  Establishment  are  numbered  and 
few.  The  loss  of  such  a  change  would,  I  believe,  be  so  great 
to  the  nation,  and  in  some  respects  to  the  Church,  that  I 
would  strive  earnestly  to  postpone  it  as  long  as  it  is  possible. 

The  idea  of  the  Pan-Anglican  Synod,  as  it  was 
generally  termed,  but  more  properly  speaking  Pan- 
Anglican  Conference,  which  was  held  at  Lambeth  in 
this  year,   had   been  brought   before  the   Bishops    in 


230  LIFE   OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.      chap.  viii. 

February  1866  on  a  Memorial  from  the  Canadian 
Bishops,  requesting  the  Archbishop  to  summon  such 
a  Conference.  On  that  occasion  the  Archbishop  said 
he  thought  that  the  time  had  not  come  for  a  united 
Synod.  In  the  following  year  this  application  was  again 
under  consideration.  The  meeting  at  which  the  sug- 
gestion was  adopted  was  attended  by  many  of  the 
Canadian  and  Colonial  Bishops,  and  the  Archbishop 
called  upon  the  Bishop  of  Montreal  to  open  the  dis- 
cussion, which  ended  in  an  agreement  that  the  Arch- 
bishop should  issue  invitations.  This  was  done  on 
February  22,  with  the  result  that  seventy-eight  Bishops 
assembled,  on  September  24,  at  Lambeth  for  mutual 
conference.  This  meeting,  which  ended  peacefully  on 
September  27,  might  have  had  a  very  different  termi- 
nation. Bishop  Gray,  who  came  to  England  for  the  Con- 
ference, wished  to  propose  a  resolution  condemning 
Bishop  Colenso.  This  question  had  not  been  inserted 
in  any  of  the  prospectuses  which  had  been  issued ;  had 
it  been,  doubtless  many  Bishops  who  attended  would 
not  have  come.  On  September  10  the  Archbishop 
wrote  to  Bishop  Wilberforce  on  the  subject  as  follows  : — 

I  really  cannot  think  it  reasonable  to  write  as  though 
nothing  had  yet  been  done,  as  regards  the  Conference,  in 
repudiation  of  Dr.  Colenso,  and  in  support  of  the  judg- 
ment against  him.  No  words  can  more  significantly  express 
the  mind  of  the  Conference  than  his  absolute  exclusion 
from  it. 

The  Archbishop  begged  the  Bishop  to  dissuade 
Bishop  Gray  from  taking  such  a  step  as  he  contem- 
plated, which,  the  Archbishop  said,  would,  in  his 
opinion,  have  the  effect  of  '  causing  a  dissolution  of 
the  assembly.'  In  consequence  of  this  appeal  the 
Bishop  saw  Bishop  Gray  on  the  13th,  and  with  what 
effect  the  following  sentence   from  a  letter  from  the 


1867.  THE  BISHOP    WRITES  ENCYCLICAL.  23 1 

Archbishop  on  September  14  shows:  *I  am  very 
glad  to  hear  that  Capetown  is  gentled.  The  Bishop  of 
New  Zealand  is  with  me  and  quite  takes  our  view  of 
his  case.'  The  resolution  proposed  by  Bishop  Gray 
was  a  public  repudiation  and  disowning  of  Bishop 
Colenso,  and  recognising  the  excommunication.  The 
resolution  he  was  finally  induced  to  adopt  was  (i)  the 
reference  of  the  matter  to  a  Committee  to  report,  and 
(2)  acquiescence  in  the  resolution  passed  by  Convoca- 
tion. The  Bishop's  diary  for  the  days  of  the  Confer- 
ence is  as  follows  : — 

September  24. — After  prayers  and  breakfast  to  Lambeth. 
Holy  Communion  in  chapel,  a  very  striking  service.  Bishop 
of  Illinois'  sermon  a  flow  of  words  without  ideas,  and  very 
long  and  nothing  to  the  point.  Preliminary  discussion  all 
day  about  whether  *  Protestant '  should  stand  in  resolution. 
To  Lambeth  to  dinner  ;  very  large  and  interesting  party. 

September  25. —  To  Lambeth,  as  before.  Discussion  all 
day.  Archbishop  desired  me  to  prepare  a  draft  Encyclical. 
At  night  again  to  Fulham. 

September  26. — Up  early  and  wrote  Encyclical.  Address 
read  and  approved.  Committee  appointed  to  amend.  With 
the  Archbishop  to  Addington.  Bishop  of  Rhode  Island  full 
of  humour.     Long  and  anxious  talk  about  Natal. 

September  27. — -Up  to  meeting.  Again  anxious  about 
Natal.  Bishop  of  New  Zealand's  grand  but  over-strong 
speech.  Address  adopted  with  enthusiasm.  Carried,  against 
London,  Winchester,  and  St.  David's,  our  acquiescence  in 
the  advice  tendered  by  Convocation  to  Natal.  Meeting  at 
St.  James's  Hall ;  Bishop  of  London  excited.  To  Fulham 
again. 

A  few  days  after,  the  Bishop  received  the  following 
from  the  Rev.  Sir  Henry  Thompson  : — 

You  enjoy  the  credit  of  having  penned  the  Pan-Anglican 
Pastoral,  and  a  very  creditable  document  it  is.  I  don't  think 
it  will  quite  come  up  to  Archdeacon  Denison's  ideas,  nor 


232  LIFE  OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.      chap.  viil. 

probably  will  you  receive  any  complimentary  letter  from 
Dr,  M'Neile.  But  the  vast  body  of  the  clergy  will,  I  am  sure, 
greatly  approve  of  the  calm,  dignified,  affectionate  spirit  it 
breathes  throughout. 

In  order  that  the  relations  which  existed  between 
Bishop  Wilberforce  and  Bishop  Gray  should  not  be 
misunderstood  or  misinterpreted,  because  on  certain 
occasions  Bishop  Wilberforce  found  it  necessary  to 
restrain  his  friend's  ardent  temperament,  the  tribute  to 
Bishop  Gray's  memory,  delivered  at  the  Church  Con- 
gress at  Leeds  In  1872,  just  after  the  intelligence  of 
Bishop  Gray's  death  had  been  received.  Is  given  : — 

It  was  given  to  me  to  know  that  sainted  man  with  a 
degree  of  intimacy  which  few  others  attained  to  ;  to  hear 
from  him  just  at  the  end  of  his  course  ;  to  have  the  first  news 
from  those  who  stood  around  of  every  expression  of  that 
death-bed  ;  and  I  can  only  say  I  think  a  nobler  example  has 
never  been  seen  of  the  union  of  Christian  courage,  untiring 
firmness,  power  of  organisation,  fearlessness  in  danger,  self- 
sacrifice  at  every  turn — money,  life,  time,  family,  health,  all 
given  up  for  the  cause  of  Christ,  with  a  readiness  of  surrender 
which  it  is  given  to  few  men  to  achieve  ; — and  all  this,  I 
venture  to  say,  united  with  a  humble  tenderness  of  heart 
which  a  woman  might  envy.  He  is  taken  from  us,  but  surely 
the  Church  of  England,  in  sending  out  such  a  hero  to  find 
his  bed  of  glory,  is  ennobling  herself  through  the  sacrifice  of 
her  son. 

From  the  Pan-Anglican  Conference  the  Bishop 
went  to  the  Church  Congress  at  Wolverhampton,  where 
he  twice  spoke  ;  first  on  Church  Patronage,  and  then 
addressing  a  large  meeting  of  working  men.  From 
Wolverhampton  the  Bishop  travelled  to  Newbury  for 
work  in  the  diocese.  This  was  cut  short  by  a  severe 
attack  of  bronchitis,  the  result  of  a  neglected  cold. 
Two  sermons  the  day  after  the  cold  had  been  caught 
laid  the  Bishop  up,  and  he  had  to  return  to  Cuddesdon, 


1867.  VISIT  TO  BLENHEIM.  233 

where  for  many  days  he  was  confined  to  his  bed  or 
his  room,  by  a  severe  illness.  Near  the  beginning  of 
this  illness  the  diary  notes  : — 

October  6. — Did  not  get  a  zvink  of  sleep  from  laryngitis. 
Bed,  blister,  and  medicine.  A  very  solitary  day  ;  all  day 
alone.  Read  Liddon.  I  hope  some  earnest  thought  and 
prayer.     God  grant  it  fruitful ! 

On  October  14,  the  Bishop  thus  writes  to  Sir 
Charles  Anderson  from  Blenheim  : — 

«:_L  I  worked  too  soon  last  Tuesday  and  brought  on  a  relapse, 
and  have  been  very  little  out  of  bed  since.  I  was  to  have 
dined  at  the  magistrates'  dinner  to-day  in  Oxford,  and  par- 
ticularly wished  to  do  it,  but  I  was  not  well  enough.  To- 
morrow, D.V.,  I  am  going  back  to  Cuddesdon,  giving  up  work, 

and  Ernest  and  F are  coming  to  nurse  me,  and  I  hope 

very  soon  to  be  well  and  free  from  mustard  poultices,  blisters, 
and  all  the  rest  of  that  disagreeable  army.  Nothing  can  be 
kinder  than  the  Duke  and  Duchess  have  been.  I  enjoyed 
meeting  Disraeli.  He  is  a  marvellous  man.  Not  a  bit  a 
Briton,  but  all  over  an  Eastern  Jew ;  but  very  interesting  to 
talk  to.  He  evidently  feels  no  confidence  in  the  Government 
holding  its  own,  and  yet  has  a  good  hope  that  it  will.  He 
akuays  speaks  as  if  he  did  believe  in  the  Church.  I  am 
grieved  at  the  report  of  your  Bishop's  charge  in  the  news- 
paper. I  did  not  conceive  it  possible  he  could  have  gone  so  far 
as  to  give  up  the  Apostolical  Succession,  and  I  think  his  letting 
fly  at  Sacerdotalism  base,  because  he  must  know  that  most  of 
those  who  speak  of  it  mean  only  a  real  belief  in  the  Kingdom 
of  Grace.  It  would  have  done  your  heart  good  to  hear  the 
Bishop  of  New  Zealand  at  the  Conference  lay  it  on  the 
Erastianism  of  so  many  of  our  body.  To-day  is  charming 
here ;  south-west  wind  and  as  soft  as  summer.  I  went  out 
for  the  first  time  in  the  middle  of  the  day  with  the  Duke  in 
these  beautiful  grounds,  and  to-day,  with  the  varying  tints, 
they  really  were  most  lovely. 

October  23. —  Better,  D.G.  After  breakfast  rode  to 
Headington  Quarry,  and  on  to  Oxford.     Bishop  of  Rhode 


234  Z/F^   OF  BISHOP   WILBERFORCE.      chap.  vill. 

Island's  affectionate  farewell.  To  London,  University 
Assurance,  and  to  Latimer.  At  Latimer,  Stratford  de 
Redcliffes,  Clarendons,  and  Lloyd ;  William  Comptons — 
pleasant  evening.  Lord  Clarendon's  story  about  Thiers. 
'  He  wrote  me  a  letter,  when  I  was  Foreign  Secretary  under 
Melbourne,  of  five  sheets,  to  propose  our  allowing  the 
Emperor's  bones  to  be  brought  to  France.  I  read  it  to  the 
Cabinet ;  they  resolved  it  was  expedient  to  allow  it.  I 
thought  about  it,  and,  after  thinking,  it  occurred  to  me  that 
the  man  who  had  made  him  bones  ought  to  be  consulted  ;  so 
I  went  to  Melbourne  and  said,  "  Should  not  the  Duke  be 
consulted  t  "  He  said,  "  It  is  a  confounded  good  idea.  Claren- 
don ;  so  you  go  and  see  him."  Well,  there  was  no  escape,  so 
I  wrote  to  the  Duke  and  said  I  wished  to  see  him  from  the 
Cabinet.  Got  answer,  "  I  wait  for  you."  So  I  went  off,  and 
he  received  me  in  a  room  with  two  sort  of  stools  of  penitence 
— he  on  one,  beckoned  me  on  to  the  other.  I  opened  my 
budget.  He  said,  "  Oh,  I  tell  you  what  it  is  ;  if  we  give  up 
the  bones  they'll  only  think  it  is  because  we  don't  dare  keep 
them.  So  I  should  refuse,  and  not  care  a  twopenny — for  «// 
the  row  they'll  make."  Clarendon  told  me  of  Pelissier  drink- 
ing port  at  the  Queen's  for  claret,  and  his  ludicrous 
apostrophes  ;  communicating  his  intended  marriage,  to  Clar- 
endon. Could  not  remember  her  name.  '  E//e  irmtrt  de 
j'oie ;  a  MarccJiale,  a  Duchessc,  an  Ainbassadrice ;  so  many 
mille  livres  ;  die  inciirt  de  joic! 

Thiers,  when  Clarendon  was  in  Paris,  opening  to  him 
all  that  he  thought  the  Emperor  might  do,  and  implying  his 
readiness  to  help.  Clarendon  saying,  *  Well,  my  good  friend, 
I  shall  see  him  to-morrow,  and  with  your  leave  I  will  repeat 
all.'  Thiers  replied,  '  Oh  no,  no,  no !  I  have  spoken,  mon 
cher  N'lWers,  to  you  as  an  intimc!  '  Ah  !  I  understand  ;  my 
mouth  IS  fermc'e;  not  a  word  will  I  speak,'  'Well,  mon  bon 
Y'lWerSy  you  are  used  to  these  things ;  say  nothing  from  me, 
but  if  you  see  fit  to  say  anything  I  leave  you  free.'  *  Well,  I 
shall  see  fit  to  say  every  word  to-morrow  to  the  Emperor,  as 
I  have  told  you  I  should.'  Next  day  I  told  the  Emperor. 
He  said,  '  Ah,  le  coquin  Thiers  ;  I  know  him  well  ;  I  know  I 
may  have  him  if  I  lift  my  finger  up  to  him,  as  I  may  a  fiacre 
from  the  stand ;  but  I  am  not  going  to  lift  up  my  finger.' 


1 867.  CHICHESTER  SPIRE.  235 

Clarendon  spoke  to  me  with  the  utmost  bitterness  of  Lord 
Derby.  '  Had  studied  him  ever  since  he  (Clarendon)  was  in 
the  House  of  Lords.  No  generosity,  never,  to  friend  or  foe  ; 
never  acknowledged  help  ;  a  great  aristocrat,  proud  of  family 
wealth.  He  had  only  agreed  to  this"*  as  he  would  of  old 
have  backed  a  horse  at  Newmarket ;  hated  Disraeli,  but 
believed  in  him  as  he  would  have  done  in  an  unprincipled 
trainer ;  he  wins,  that  is  all.  He  knows  the  garlic  given,  &c. 
He  says  to  those  without,  "  All  fair,  gentlemen."  ' 

October  31. — Ouantock.  Rode  a  beautiful  ride  on 
Ouantock  downs,  with  the  two  girls.  After  luncheon  to 
Bridgewater,  and  joined  my  Bas.,  and  on  with  him  to 
Bishopstowe.  Old  Bishop  quite  himself,  but  kinder  ; 
memory  perfect,  and  full  of  complaisance. 

To  the  Rev.  H.  Pearson  the  Bishop  writes  on 
November  2  : — 

I  find  the  Bishop  of  Exeter  in  full  force  intellectually,  and 
in  fair  health — very  kind  and  full  of  hospitable  courtesy.  It 
is  very  striking  to  see  the  taming  of  the  Old  Lion. 

In  i860,  the  spire  of  Chichester  Cathedral  fell,  or, 
more  properly  speaking,  collapsed.  The  county  of 
Sussex,  headed  by  its  then  Lord  Lieutenant,  the  Duke 
of  Richmond,  raised  the  whole  sum  necessary  for  Its 
rebuilding,  50,000/.  ;  and  in  the  short  space  of  seven 
years  this  spire,  the  only  cathedral  spire  visible  from 
the  sea,  was  rebuilt.  November  14  was  the  day  fixed 
for  the  re-opening  of  the  Cathedral,  and  Bishop 
Wllberforce  was  requested  to  preach  the  sermon. 
The  re-opening  was  taken  as  the  occasion  for  an 
ecclesiastical  gathering ;  and  several  Bishops  and 
many  clergy  were  present.  The  services  In  connection 
with  these  meetings  extended  over  four  days,  the 
preachers  being  Bishop  Wordsworth,  of  St.  Andrews, 
Bishop  of  Worcester,  Bishop  of  Rochester,  Bishop  of 
Illinois,  and  Bishop  Trower  (Gibraltar).     It  had  not 

*  The  Reform  Bill. 


236  LIFE   OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.      chap.  viil. 

been  arranged  who  was  to  preach  the  concluding 
sermon  on  Sunday  the  17th.  Bishop  Wilberforce 
therefore  wrote  to  Dean  Hook,  asking  him,  and  re- 
ceived the  following  answer  : — 

Evening,  the  great  Lord  Bishop  of  England  ;  you  may 
ask  anyone  in  the  street  who  he  is  and  you  will  receive  the 
same  answer. 

From  Cuddesdon  the  Bishop  writes  this  descrip- 
tive letter  to  Mr.  Gordon  on  the  events  of  the  year, 
most  of  which  have  been  already  alluded  to.  In  the 
first  paragraph  of  the  letter,  the  Queen's  book  is 
mentioned.  This  was  the  first  instalment  of  those 
works  which  make  Prince  Albert's  life  among  us 
familiar  to  all.  It  was  called  '  The  Early  Years  of 
His  Royal  Highness  the  Prince  Consort,'  and  was,  by 
the  special  request  of  the  Queen,  reviewed  in  the  pages 
of  the  '  Quarterly '  by  the  Bishop. 

November  24,  1867. 

I  think  the  general  opinion  on  the  Queen's  book  is  that 
it  is  a  great  success.  The  very  high  Tories  who  hated  the 
Prince  speak  against  it.  But  my  opinion  is  that  it  is  a  cry 
from  her  heart  for  her  people's  sympathy,  and  that  the  great- 
ness of  the  occasion  justified  the  strangeness  of  the  proceed- 
ing, and  that  the  cry  for  sympathy  has  been  answered.  The 
Review  in  the  *  Quarterly '  exactly  describes  my  view. 

No  man  living,  in  my  judgment,  can  form  any  idea  of  the 
result  of  the  Reform  Bill.  I  incline  to  believe  that  its  earlier 
effects  will  be  favourable  to  the  Church,  and  therefore  to  the 
monarchy.  But  in  its  ultimate  consequences  I  cannot  see 
how  it  can  be  otherwise  than  democratic.  It  is  an  appeal  to 
the  people  against  the  Whigs.  Disraeli  speaks  exactly  as  he 
wrote  in  '  Sybil.'  I  had  a  good  deal  of  talk  with  him  lately 
at  Blenheim.  He  is  full  of  hope,  and  speaks,  when  most  con- 
fidentially, most  a  la  '  Sybil.' 

The  Lambeth  gathering  was  a  very  great  success.  Its 
strongly  anti-Erastian  tone,  rebuking  the  Bishop  of  London 
and  strengthening  those  who  hope  to  maintain  the  Establish- 


1867.  LETTER   TO  MR.   GORDON.  237 

ment  by  maintaining,  instead  of  by  surrendering,  the  dogmatic 
character  of  the  Church,  was  quite  remarkable.  We  are  now- 
sitting  in  Committee  trying  to  complete  our  work — agree  to 
a  voluntary  court  of  highest  doctrinal  appeal  for  the  free 
colonies  of  America.  If  we  can  carry  this  out,  we  shall  have 
erected  a  barrier  of  immense  moral  strength  against  the  Privy 
Council  Latitudinarianism.  My  view  is  that  God  gives  us 
the  opportunity,  as  at  home  Latitudinarianism  must  spread, 
of  encircling  the  home  Church  with  a  band  of  far  more  dog- 
matic truth-holding  communions  who  will  act  most  strongly 
in  favour  of  truth  here.  /  vv^as  in  great  measure  the  framer 
of  the  Pan-Anglican  for  this  purpose,  and  the  result  has 
abundantly  satisfied  me.  The  American  Bishops  won  golden 
opinions.  The  fury  of  '  The  Times '  and  the  *  Pall  Mall '  mark 
exactly  on  the  thermometer  the  point  of  pro-dogmatic 
strength  which  was  obtained.  I  do  not  differ,  I  am  sure, 
from  you  about  the  Ritualists.  If  they  would  have  been  less 
demonstrative,  they  might  have  made  good  their  position. 
But  their  vehemence,  vituperation,  and  self-will  have  been 
their  great  hindrance.  The  Commission  saved,  I  believe. 
Parliamentary  interference.  I  pressed  it  with  that  view — for 
Parliamentary  interference  meant  persecution  and  separation. 
The  conclusion  to  which  the  Commission  was  brought  was 
really  wonderful.  I  had  no  hopes  of  such  a  success  when  I 
began  the  struggle  in  it.  Beauchamp  is  exactly  the  man  he 
was.  Write  to  him  and  get  him  to  give  you  his  history  of  the 
matter ;  it  will,  I  am  certain,  interest  you  greatly.  We  are 
sitting  again  two  days  a  week,  and  I  am  worked  to  death. 

The  Duke  of  Argyll's  book  is  very  thoughtful  and  with  a 
great  deal  of  good  in  it,  but  liked  by  the  older  men  more  than 
the  younger. 

Abyssinia  is  a  mist,  and  a  very  disagreeable  mist. 

Abercorn  '  succeeds  remarkably  well.  Fenianism  is  a  hor- 
rible nightmare,  a  secret  conspiracy  of  the  vilest  and  most 
threatening  kind.  Hardy  told  me  last  Wednesday  that  the 
leaders  had  warned  Derby,  himself,  and  Mayo,  that  if  the  three 
villains  hung  yesterday  were  executed,  he  should  not  survive 
the  week  !     I  wish  you  were  here,  dearest  Arthur,  to  use  the 

*  Lord-Lieutenant  of  Leland. 


238  LIFE  OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.      chap.  viir. 

furniture  and  look  at  the  remembered  rooms.  I  only  got  here 
late  Friday  for  two  days'  hard  work,  and  am  away  again  to- 
morrow. Basil's  boy  is  charming,  very  clever  and  pretty  and 
full  of  charm.  He  runs  about,  does  everything,  and,  I  think, 
means  very  soon  to  talk.  Here  is  a  long  yarn  spun  out  of 
busiest  time.  Will  you  remember  me  affectionately  to  your 
wife,  and  believe  me  most  affectionately  yours,     q    r\-<(y^ 

December  i. — Oxford.  Morning:  low  and  tired.  Day 
hot  and  damp.  Prepared  and  preached  at  St.  Peter's  in  the 
East  with  some  interest.  Lunched  with  Dean  of  Christ 
Church.  Then  preached  at  St.  Mary  Magdalene.  Called  on 
dear  old  M'Bride  :  most  affecting.  '  I  wanted  to  see  you  to 
tell  you  how  I  love  and  respect  you ' — seemed  like  a  voice 
from  the  other  world.  Saw  some  young  men — candidates 
for  Orders.     Wrote.     Very  cold  night,  snow  and  frost. 

Decanber  7. — New  Lodge,  Windsor.  Wrote  many  let- 
ters. After  luncheon  walked  with  Van  de  Weyer ;  he  full  of 
conversation.  Said  he  had  heard  Lady  John  Russell  say, 
*  I  always  come  down  with  him  to  the  House  to  look  after 
him  and  see  that  no  one  else  talks  him  over  from  what  I  have 
told  him  to  say.'  Afterwards  to  Windsor  Castle.  Dined 
with  the  Queen,  Prince  Arthur,  Princess  Louise,  Wellesleys, 
Derbys.  The  Queen  very  affable,  friendly,  and  cheery. 
Much  talk  with  Derby ;  pressed  Leighton  on  him  for  next 
Bishopric.*' 

On  Christmas  Day  the  Bishop  thus  writes  to  his 
son  Ernest : — 

Christmas  Day  must  not  be  without  its  merry  Christmas 
from  me  to  you.  I  quite  long  to  have  you  all  round  me  : 
but  it  is  the  true  tone  and  colour  of  this  world  that  as  you 
get  professions  and  wives  you  are  parted  from  the  old  family. 
I  am  passing  aw^ay  too  ;  and  you  are  all  coming  on.  God 
grant,  my  dear  one,  that  you  may  be  better  and  wiser  and 
more  useful  and  happier  than  ever  your  father  has  been. 

"  A  letter  from  Lord  Derby  to  the  Bishop,  written  in  186S,  after  his  resigna- 
tion, proves,  that  had  Lord  Derby  had  the  opportunity  he  would  have  nominated 
Dr.  Leighton  for  the  See  of  Hereford. 


i868.  RITUAL   COMMISSION. 


239 


CHAPTER    IX. 

(1S68.) 

SECOND  RErORT  OF  THE,  RITUAL  COMMISSION— LETTERS  TO  THE  ARCHBISHOP 
—SIR  C.  ANDERSON— DIARY  —  GOOD  FRIDAY — IRISH  CHURCH— LETTER 
FROM  MR.  DISRAELI — DIARY— CONVERSATION  WITH  LORD  O.  RUSSELL- 
CONFIRMATION  AT  WESTMINSTER — DEAN  STANLEY'S  LETTER — DIOCESAN 
MANAGEMENT — LETTERS   TO  CLERGY — MR.    AND   MRS.    PYE'S   SECESSION   TO 

ROME— DIARY — LETTERS    TO  SIR    C.    ANDERSON— REV.    E.    WILBERFORCE 

DIARY — LETTER     TO     MR.     DISRAELI— CHURCH     CONGRESS     IN   IRELAND 

DIARY — VISIT  TO  KNOWSLEY — DEATH  OF  ARCHBISHOP  LONGLEY — LETTER 
FROM  MR.  DISRAELI  —  DIARY  —  DEAN  WELLESLEY's  HISTORY  OF  THE 
CHURCH  APPOINTMENTS — LETTERS  TO  SIR  C.  ANDERSON — VISIT  TO  HAT- 
FIELD—LETTERS  TO  REV.    E.    WILBERFORCE— SIR  C.    ANDERSON. 

In  February  the  Ritual  Commissioners  resumed  their 
sittings.  The  Bishop  was  present  on  February  5.  The 
next  day  the  diary  records  : — 

Ritual ;  a  long  fight  as  to  candles ;  I  for  postponing 
advice  until  the  legal  question  is  settled. 

Extracts  from  letters  to  his  son  Ernest  throw  some 
light  on  the  line  the  Bishop  took  in  the  Commission 
previous  to  the  second  Report. 

Februaiy  7. 

I  hope  we  may  preserve  liberty.  I  had  a  fierce  battle 
yesterday  at  the  Commission,  and  expect  another  on  Wednes- 
day next. 

February  13. 

Hot  fights  in  the  Jerusalem  Chamber,  and  I  know  not  how 
much  I  shall  save. 

P'ebruaiy  19. 

I  think  I  have  managed  to  take  the  sting  out  of  some 
resolutions  to  which,  as  they  stood,  I  was  very  much  opposed. 


240  LIFE   OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.  chap.  ix. 

March  26. 

I  am  fighting,  as  I  can,  unfairness  and  tyranny  in  the 
Report.  But  the  difficulty  is  what  to  say  for  the  revival 
without  authority  of  very  demonstrative  uses,  objectionable 
to  most,  which  have  been  for  300  years  utterly  disused. 

The  second  Report  appeared  early  in  May.  Of 
the  twenty-nine  Commissioners,  six  did  not  sign  the 
Report  at  all ;  four,  including  the  Bishop,  signed  with 
qualifications.  The  Report  recommended  legislation 
on  the  subject  of  incense  and  candles ;  it  was  against 
this  proposal  that  the  Bishop  protested.  After  hearing 
evidence  and  after  all  the  arguments  which  had  been 
adduced,  he  was  still  of  the  opinion  which  has  already 
been  so  fully  stated,  that  '  offence,  whether  caused  by 
excess  or  defect  in  Divine  service,  may  be  removed  by 
strengthening  the  hands  of  the  Bishop,  with  appeal 
to  the  Archbishop.'  The  Bishop  further  protested 
because  he  was  convinced  that  no  law  could  regulate 
gesture  and  posture,  which.  In  his  opinion,  were  much 
better  left  to  the  good  sense  and  good  feeling  of  each 
parish. 

In  a  letter  to  the  Archbishop,  the  reasons  which 
compelled  the  Bishop  to  dissent  from  the  Report  are 
more  fully  defined  : — 

The  Bishop  of  Oxfoi'd  to  the  Archbishop  of 
Cante7'btiry. 

Cuddesdon,  April  17,  1868. 

My  dear  Archbishop, — I  am  asked  to  send  to  you  the 
printed  paper  which  will  accompany  this  from  Mr.  Kempe. 
It  expresses  the  view  which  the  Dean  of  Ely,  Mr.  Hubbard, 
Mr.  Gregory,  Mr.  Hope,  Sir  R.  Phillimore,  and  myself  (and, 
except  as  regards  the  possible  legality  of  the  altar  lights, 
Mr.  Coleridge)  take  of  the  second  Report  as  agreed  to.  But 
as  the  appeal  has  been  lodged  since  this  paper  was  drawn  up, 
some  of  us  would  be  glad  of  the  opportunity  of  revising  it, 


i868.  A'O  COUNTRY  TO  APPEAL    TO. 


241 


if  time  allows,  before  it  is  formally  attached  to  the  second 
Report.  I  cannot  say  to  you  the  pain  it  gives  me  not  to 
assent  to  anything  which  has  your  sanction.  I  cannot  but 
believe  that  our  common  aim  would  have  been  better  promoted 
by  an  united  advice  that  the  Bishop  and  Archbishop  should  be 
empowered  to  stop  these  things,  than  by  a  divided  Report 
advising  the  compelling  the  Bishop  to  act,  and  so,  in  my 
judgment,  simply  abrogating  his  office.  I  am,  my  dear 
Archbishop,  your  dutiful  and  very  affectionate, 

S.  OXON. 

The  Bishop  of  Oxford  to  Sir  Charles  Anderson. 

Rail  to  London,  March  25. 

Many  thanks  for  yours,  which  has  reached  me  to-day  at 
Shardeloes,  T.  Drake's  house  near  Amersham.  It  is  a  fine 
place,  and  was  one  of  the  most  complete  positions  in  England 
when,  besides,  as  now,  a  great  landed  property  and  the  rectory 
of  1,100/.  a  year,  with  a  grand  house,  it  returned  the  two 
members  for  the  town  of  Amersham.  I  am  still  about  on  my 
Confirmations,  and  shall  be  till  Easter,  and  intend  after, 
coming  up  for  Thursday  and  Friday  each  week  to  attend  the 
Ritual  Commission,  whither  I  am  wending  now,  going  on 
Friday  evening  to  Eton  for  the  Confirmation  there  on 
Saturday  and  a  sermon  to  the  college  on  Sunday.  I  am 
very  sorry  Gladstone  has  moved  the  attack  on  the  Irish 
Church.  It  seems  so  utterly  unfit  a  subject  for  this  Parlia- 
ment, and  as  to  people  saying,  with  '  The  Times  '  to-day,  that 
Dizzy  can't  dissolve,  because  there  is  no  country  to  appeal  to, 
that  seems  to  me  to  tell  only  against  those  who  appeal  for  an 
answer  on  such  a  question  to  a  Parliament  behind  which  is 
no  *  country  '  to  appeal  to.  I  take  it  that  the  only  doubt  of 
Dizzy  dissolving  is  that  it  must  spend  the  money  of  his  side 
before  the  election  of  next  spring.  But  it  is  altogether  a  bad 
business,  and  I  am  afraid  Gladstone  has  been  drawn  into  it 
from  the  unconscious  influence  of  his  restlessness  at  being 
out  of  office.  I  have  no  doubt  that  his  hatred  to  the  loiv  tone 
of  the  Irish  branch  has  had  a  great  deal  to  do  with  it. 

March  25.— After  letters   and   breakfast  to  Woburn  ;    a 
nice  Confirmation.     On  to  London.     Long  talk  with  Philli- 
VOL.  III.  R 


242  LIFE   OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.         chap.  ix. 

more.  Dine  Cranbourne's — Stanhopes,  Lady  C.  Denison, 
Childcrs,  Delane.  With  Stanhope  to  Foreign  Office.  Snowy. 
Great  crowd.  Gladstone  brought  me  home.  He  said, 
'  The  operations  of  last  year  had  destroyed  the  whole  power 
of  Conservative  resistance  :  the  stream  now  so  strong,  alter- 
ation in  the  whole  tone  of  House  of  Commons.'  Dizzy  in 
his  glory,  leading  about  the  Princess  of  Wales  ;  the  Prince 
of  Wales,  Mrs.  Dizzy — she  looking  very  ill  and  haggard. 
The  impenetrable  man  low.  All  looks  to  me  as  if  England's 
*  Mene,  Mene,'  were  written  on  our  walls. 

March  26. — Breakfast.  Gladstone  came  to  talk  about 
Church  Rate  Bill ;  as  earnest  as  ever  on  his  clause  for 
making  non-payer  non-voter.  Henley  and  the  Erastians 
opposing  in  the  House.  We  agreed,  and  he  did  not  even 
broach  his  Irish  Church  plans.  Ritual  Commission  all  day. 
Dined  Gathorne  Hardy's.  Gladstone's  new  commandment : 
'Thou  shalt  not  commit  Adullamy.' 

Erskine  said,  '  When  Lord  Chelmsford  surrendered  the 
seals  to  the  Queen,  he  held  them  back  a  minute,  and  said, 
"  I  have  been  used  worse  than  a  menial  servant  ;  I  have 
not  had  even  a  month's  warning." '  Mrs.  Disraeli  told  the 
Queen  *  when  Disraeli  has  a  sore  throat,  I  cure  him  by  putting 
my  arm  round  his  throat,  and  keeping  it  round  all  night.' 

March  31. — Beautiful  morning.  Up  early.  Wrote  draft 
Report  for  Ritual  Commission.  Charming  letters  from  Reg. 
and  E.  and  F.  as  to  Reginald's  baby.  Walk  in  grounds  at 
Hedgerley.  Off  for  High  Wycombe.  H.  Paddon  all  kindness. 
A    poor   Confirmation — only   five    males    from    Wycombe. 

Then  to  West  Wycombe  ;  great  improvement  there  ;  

evidently  done  work.  On  to  Braddenham  ;  kind  welcome ; 
a  nice  Confirmation.  Walk  after  on  wald  ground— beautiful 
grounds  and  sunset. 

April  2. — Breakfast  at  Hope's  and  long  discussion  on 
Ritual.  Then  to  Ritual  Commission.  Then  to  House  of 
Commons  and  heard  Roebuck  ;  very  clever  on  Irish  Church, 
smashing  all  Gladstone's  arguments,  and  then  winding  up 
with  being  ready  to  vote  as  against  all  Establishments. 

April  10. — (Good  Friday.)  Preached  morning.  Con- 
firmed at  St.  Mary's  and  preached.     Confirmed   St.  Thomas, 


i868.  LOVE  OF  NATURAL  HISTORY.  243 

Oxford,    and    Penitentiary.       Out    late,     very    much    tired 
indeed. 

A  reference  to  the  pages  of  '  The  Guardian '  fills  up 
this  bare  outline  of  a  day's  work.  It  appears  that  in 
the  morning  the  Bishop  preached  at  Cuddesdon,  then 
drove  into  Oxford,  where  at  3  o'clock  he  confirmed  139 
candidates  at  St.  Mary's, 

'  This  Church  was  as  densely  crowded  as  at  one  of  the  Lent 
sermons.  At  the  end  of  the  Confirmation,  the  Bishop,  on 
being  requested  to  make  a  further  address  to  the  candidates, 
went  up  into  the  pulpit  and  preached  with  great  power  from 
the  text,  "  Not  this  man,  but  Barabbas." 

'  At  the  Church  of  St.  Thomas  the  Martyr  the  Bishop  con- 
firmed exactly  the  same  number  of  persons  in  the  course  of 
the  same  afternoon  ;  and  at  seven  o'clock  on  the  same  even- 
ing he  held  a  third  Confirmation  at  the  Holywell  Penitentiary.' 

April  II. — ^Off  at  ten  for  Oxford,  and  on  to  Bloxham. 
Very  nice  Confirmation.  On  to  London.  Saw  A.,'^  Reg-, 
and  baby.  Dined  Athenseum.  Talk  with  Gould  :  he  suspects 
my  woodchat ;  says  it  was  brought  in  the  flesh  from  France. 
He  said  '  the  nightingales  will  arrive  to-morrow.  Men  wait- 
ing to  trap  them  as  soon  as  they  arrive.  The  first  fetch  the 
best  price.  Striking  local  presence  of  birds  :  one  sort  of 
humming-bird  found  only  in  the  crater  of  one  extinct  volcano.' 

The  above  diary  entry  furnishes  an  opportunity  of 
giving  two  authentic  anecdotes  illustrative  of  the 
Bishop's  love  of  natural  history. 

The  Bishop's  love  of  natural  objects,  and  especially 
his  great  knowledge  of  birds,  was  well  understood  by 
the  country  people  about  Cuddesdon.  On  one  occasion, 
as  he  was  returning  home  on  horseback,  a  boy  jumped 
through  a  newly  made  hedge,  and  the  Bishop  rated 
him   somewhat    sharply   for   damaging    the    farmer's 

^  Anna  Maria,  third  daughter  of  The  Hon.   R.   Denman,   married  to  R.  G. 
Wilberforce,  1867. 

R  2 


244  Z/F^   OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.         chap.  IX. 

property,  and  desired  him  to  come  up  to  the  Palace 
for  another  word  of  reproof  in  the  evening.  The  boy- 
was  for  a  moment  cowed  and  silent ;  but  then,  puUing 
his  hair,  said  in  a  low  voice  :  '  Please,  your  lordship, 
I've  eot  a  wonderful  rare  bird  at  home,  that  I  meant 
to  bring  to  your  lordship.'  The  Bishop  asked  what 
the  bird  was,  and  was  told  that  it  was  a  sort  of  king- 
fisher. Further  inquiry  convinced  the  Bishop  that  it 
really  belonged  to  a  species  rarely  met  with  in  Oxford- 
shire. The  boy  had  carried  the  day.  The  Bishop 
slipped  half-a-crown  into  his  hand,  and  told  him  to 
bring  the  bird  to  the  Palace  as  soon  as  he  got  home.^ 

'  On  one  occasion  I  wanted  to  see  the  Bishop  and 
went  up  to  Cuddesdon  for  the  purpose.  He  had  come 
home  late  the  night  before,  and,  although  it  was  now 
early,  was  beset  by  visitors  ;  I  had  to  wait  some  time, 
and  on  going  into  the  library  I  found  the  Bishop 
surrounded  by  papers  and  absorbed  with  work,  but 
yet  ready  for  the  moment  to  give  full  attention  to  me 
as  he  had  done  to  many  others  in  succession.  On 
seeing  me  he  pointed  at  once  to  the  window,  saying : 
"  Do  you  see  what  I  have  got  there  ?"  On  looking  I 
saw  a  stick  stuck  upright  in  the  lawn  with  a  piece  of 
beef  fat  fastened  to  the  end  of  it.  He  added  :  "  I  want 
to  see  how  many  species  of  titmice  come  to  this 
garden.  I  have  already  seen  the  ox-eye,  the  blue-tit, 
and  the  cole-titmouse." 

'  Not  only  had  he  thought  of  this  amid  his  other 
occupations,  but  on  the  instant  of  my  entrance,  he 
connected  my  love  of  ornithology  with  it,  and  probably 
gained  time  by  the  remark  to  finish  hastily  some  letter 
before  him.'  ^ 

»  Communicated  by  the  Rev,  Dr.  Liddon,  who  was  walking  by  the  Bishop's 
side  at  the  time. 

»  Communicated  by  the  Rev.  E.  Elton,  Vicar  of  Wheatly,  Oxfordshire. 


1 868.  A   rREDICTION.  245 

Apj'il  21. — All  day  in  discussion  with  the  Rural  Deans. 
Especially  on  Church  Rates  and  Irish  Church.  They,  all 
but  two,  against  the  Disestablishment.  I  spoke  at  length, 
and  they  much  pleased.  Rode  with  Basil ;  saw  two  common 
and  two  sand-martins  hawking  about  at  Horspath, 

The  result  of  this  discussion  was  a  petition  to 
Parliament  against  the  proposed  disestablishment 
of  the  Irish  Church.  Mr.  Disraeli  had  requested 
the  Bishop  to  obtain  some  expression  of  opinion 
from  the  diocese  on  this  subject,  and  had  somewhat 
complained  of  the  apparent  apathy  of  the  clergy.  The 
letter  itself  concludes  with  a  somewhat  remarkable 
prediction,  considering  who  was  the  writer. 

The  Right  Hon.  B.  Disraeli  to  the  Bishop  of  Oxford. 

Hughenden  Manor,  April  15,  1868. 

My  dear  Lord, — I  wish  very  much  to  know  what  is  the 
viot  cTordre  to  the  diocese  on  the  present  state  of  affairs. 

The  Duke  of  Buckingham  writes  to  me  that  the  clergy 
will  not  move  in  his  district. 

I  can  understand  that  a  High  Church  clergy  may  not 
sympathise  very  strongly  with  a  Calvinistic  branch  of  the 
Establishment,  but  I  speak  my  sincere  conviction  when  I  say 
that  if  they  allow  this  sentiment  to  neutralise  their  action  on 
this  occasion,  they  will  be  taking  an  unwise  course,  and  will 
be  influenced  by  a  very  contracted  view. 

The  fate  of  the  Established  Church  will  depend  upon  the 
opinion  of  the  country  as  it  is  directed,  formed,  and  organised 
during  the  next  eight  months. 

Don't  let  any  of  us  flatter  ourselves  that  '  it  will  last  our 
time.'  We  live  in  a  rapid  age,  and  if  there  be  apathy  now,  it 
will  not  last  my  time  or  your  Lordship's.     Yours  sincerely, 

D. 

April  23. — At  two,  christened  my  dear  Reginald's  baby 
in  Westminster  Abbey.     What  blessings  given  mc  as  to  this. 


246  LIFE   OF  BISHOP   WILBERFORCE.         chap.  IX. 

Bounty  Board  Committee  at  three.  House  of  Lords  on 
Church  Rates. 

On  the  24th  the  Bishop  went  to  Cuddesdon,  where 
he  received  a  large  party  in  anticipation  of  the  laying 
of  the  first  stone  of  Keble  College,  which  was  to  take 
place  on  the  25th.  The  Bishop  had  undertaken  to 
preach  the  sermon,  on  the  preparation  of  which  the 
diary  records  he  had  been  busy  for  some  time. 

April  2^. — Up  early  to  finish  sermon.  Rode  into  Oxford 
with  Gathorne  Hardy  and  Bishop  of  Lichfield.  People 
pleased  with  sermon  and  congregation  good.  Then  stone- 
laying  and  theatre.  Bishop  of  Lichfield's  speech  dis- 
pleased me — egotistical  and  exaggerated  ;  Beauchamp  spoke 
well ;  Pusey,  for  sense,  very  well ;  Sir  W.  Heathcote  too ; 
Archbishop  nicely  ;  I  pleased  people.  Rode  out  with  Percy 
Barrington  and  Hardy.  Large  party  again  :  heads  of 
Houses,  &c. 

April  26. — Early  Communion.  I  preached  in  morning 
on  '  I  know  my  sheep,'  feeling  it.  Walked  with  Hardy, 
&c.,  to  Wheatley.  Afternoon  service  for  steeple-opening ; 
preached  on  Balaam.  Walked  home.  Much  talk  with 
Hardy  ;  he  firm,  sound,  able,  and  very  good. 

May  3. — (Sunday.)  Early  breakfast,  and  with  Leighton 
down  to  Sonning  ;  preached  on  '  Honour  all  men  ; '  very  nice 
service  ;    church    beautiful ;    day   lovely.      Wrote    a    little. 

Walked  in  's  grounds,  and  saw  him.     What  a  wreck  ! 

Sat  with  Leighton  and  Hugh  Pearson,  and  read  hymns  out 
of  his  hymn-book,  on  a  ledge  looking  over  the  Thames 
valley  ;  nightingales,  cuckoo,  thrush  singing ;  all  nature  in 
praise.  The  Warden  preached  excellently  ;  alas  !  I  drowsy 
and  very  tired  at  night. 

May  5. — Morning,  letters,  &c.  To  Hardy  about  Leighton 
and  Hereford  ;  he  warmly  favourable,  and  Vv^ill  communicate 
again  with  Disraeli.  Then  to  Duke  of  Marlborough ;  he 
favourable  to  not  requiring  preliminary  examination  ;  curious 
relations  with  Disraeli ;  thought  that  they  ought  to  resign,  &c. 
Dined  at  Sion  College  with  Bishop  of  London. 


i868.  MEETING  IN  ST.   JAMES'S  HALL.  247 

May  6. — After  breakfast  to  open  Elsdale's  '  church  (St. 
John  the  Divine,  Kennington) ;  preached  on  *  Honour  all 
men.'  Luncheon,  &c.;  dear  Principal  there.  Then  to  St.  James's 
Hall  meeting  ;  hissing,  as  forewarned  by  Mr.  Pope,  attempted, 
and  stopped  by  ejection  of  Dr.  Turle.  Dined  Phillimore's, 
pleasant — Speaker  and  Lady  C.  Denison,  R.  Cavendish. 

The  meetinq-  mentioned  above  was  the  ereat 
demonstration  in  support  of  the  union  between  Church 
and  State,  then  threatened  by  Mr.  Gladstone's  resolu- 
tions on  the  Irish  Church.  The  meeting  was  a  very 
large  one,  and  was  very  influentlally  attended  ;  the 
four  Archbishops,  five  Dukes,  eighteen  Earls,  seven 
Viscounts,  twenty-one  Bishops,  and  twelve  Barons 
being  present.  The  Bishop,  who  was  received  with 
great  cheering  and  a  few  hisses,  referring  to  the  latter, 
said : — 

If  my  kind  friends  in  the  body  of  the  hall  would  take  no 
more  notice  than  I  do  of  the  sibilant  geese  who  are  giving 
vent  to  their  natural  utterance,  we  shall  be  able  to  go  on  with 
the  business  of  the  meeting ;  but  if  those  sibilant  persons 
think  that  I  am  so  young  that  their  inoffensive  noise  can 
stand  in  the  way  of  my  speaking  upon  this  resolution,  I  can 
tell  them  that  they  have  mistaken  their  man. 

May  13. — Voice  very  bad.  At  St.  Thomas's  Hospital 
stone-laying  ;  fine  sight ;  the  Queen  well  received.  Dined 
St.  Bartholomew's  with  the  Prince  of  Wales  ;  he  very  civil — 
wished  me  to  give  his  health,  S:c. 

May  18. — Letters,  &c.  London  House  for  Natal  Com- 
mittee, and,  strange  to  say,  agreed  on  resolutions  affirming 
the  letters  patent ;  right  for  Bishop  of  Capetown  as  Metro- 
politan to  proceed.  House  of  Lords  and  Commons.  Dined 
Archbishop  of  Dublin. 

AT  ay  21. — Wrote,  sermon,  &c.  To  Lambeth;  helped  in 
Celebration.  Discussion  on  Irish  Church.  Bishop  of  St. 
David's  enigmatic  ;  but  told   me  privately  that  he  thought 

'  Mr.  Elsdale  was  an  old  Cuddesdon  College  pupil. 


248  LIFE   OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.         chap.  ix. 

the  Irish  prelates  should  give  up  social  precedence.  Natal 
Committee  at  London  House.  Rode,  and  dined  at  Lambeth. 
May  23. — Early  sermon.  To  Bloomsbury  Place,  Sons  of 
clergy  :  Duke  of  Cambridge,  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  &c. 
Then  in  carriage  with  the  Archbishop,  who  opened  to  me  the 
Duke  of  Buckingham's  proposal  to  give  mandate  for  Bishop 
of  Eastern  Africa,  and  to  allow  those  in  Natal  who  would  to 
join  him.  Natal  Committee  at  Ely  House,  and  much  agree- 
ment in  main  discussion.  Dined  with  the  Archbishop. 
Rumours  of  split  in  Cabinet  and  dissolution.     God  forbid  ! 

The  next  entry  refers  to  the  proposed  union  with 
the  Eastern  Church,  in  the  furtherance  of  which  the 
Bishop  had  always  taken  a  deep  interest. 

June  12. — Early  Communion.  To  Buckingham  Palace. 
To  Ottoman  ambassador :  he  catches  at  idea  of  Patriarch 
assisting  at  opening  of  Memorial  Church  ;  thinks  he  can  get 
him  to  do  it.  Greeks  are  alloivcd  to  attend  our  services,  we 
should  reciprocate,  &c.  To  House  of  Lords  ;  army  chaplains 
— Government  yields. 

June  13. — Early.  Church.  Wrote.  Sat  at  Buckingham 
Palace  for  picture.-  Breakfast  at  Lord  Dartrey's  —  Due 
d'Aumale,  Dufiferin ;  a  good  deal  of  talk  about  Ireland. 
Lectionary.  With  Lord  Longford  about  army  chaplains. 
Rode  with  Bishop  of  Gloucester.  Wrote.  Dined  Clarendon's. 
Gladstone  thinks  something  may  be  saved  out  of  Church 
Rate  Bill.  Lords  Enfield,  Skelmersdale,  Odo  Russell — 
much  talk  with  him  ;  he  said,  *  Manning's  influence  at  Rome 
absolutely  a  personal  influence  with  the  Pope.  The  Pope  a 
man  of  strong  will,  though  of  intense  vanity,  cannot  bear 
the  slightest  contradiction,  but  very  fond  of  all  who  take  his 
absolute  dicta  as  law.  This  Manning  has  played  upon,  and 
got  on.  He  is  more  Papal  than  the  Pope — repeats  to  the 
Pope  all  his  own  ideas,  which  pleases  him  exceedingly. 
Clifford  had  resisted  the  Pope,  which  was  why  he  passed  him 
by  as  Archbishop.  Manning's  appointment  protested  against 
by  all  the  old  Roman  families  in   England,  but  the   Pope 

*  The  picture  of  the  Prince  of  Wales's  wedding. 


i868.  LECTIONARY  COMMITTEE.  249 

would  not  listen.  Manning  most  obsequious :  creeps  on 
hands  and  knees  to  kiss  his  toe,  and,  even  when  bidden  to 
get  up,  remains  prostrate  in  awe.  This  delights  Pio  Nono. 
The  common  saying  amongst  the  Roman  Catholics  at  Rome 
is  :  "  Other  Popes  believed  themselves  the  vicars  of  Jesus 
Christ ;  Pio  believes  that  Jesus  Christ  is  his  vicar."  He  is 
under  great  apprehension  of  dying  this  year,  from  the  super- 
stition of  no  Pope  outliving  his  25th  year  of  Popedom.  The 
saying  at  Rome  is  that  if  he  outlives  it,  and  presides  over  the 
Synod  of  1869,  he  will,  by  a  new  decree,  pronounce  himself 
to  be  a  fourth  person  in  the  Trinity. 

'  When  Wiseman  delivered  his  lectures  at  the  British  Insti- 
tution, the  Pope  sent  for  him  (Odo  Russell),  and  desired  him  to 
express  to  the  Prime  Minister  his  thanks  for  the  allowance. 
He  explained  that  he  had  nothing  to  do  with  it.  The  Pope 
replied  that  he  understood  its  being  denied,  but  it  was  so, 
and  begged  to  have  his  message  sent.' 

The  next  entry  refers  to  the  Lectionary  Com- 
mittee. This  Committee  was  appointed  by  the  Royal 
Commissioners  on  Ritual  on  November  21,  1867. 
They  held  forty  meetings,  at  nearly  all  of  which  the 
Bishop  was  present  as  Chairman,  and  they  reported  on 
June  21,  1869  ;  their  labours  resulted  in  the  new  Table 
of  Lessons,  now  universally  in  use.  An  amusing  story 
as  to  the  new  Lectionary  used  to  be  told  by  the  Bishop. 
As  Chairman  of  the  Committee,  he  received  numerous 
letters  containing  suggestions.  One  of  his  corre- 
spondents, Mr.  Burgon,  was  very  indignant  at  the  bare 
idea  of  a  proposed  change,  and  his  correspondence  was 
couched  in  very  strong  language.  When,  at  last,  all  was 
complete  and  the  new  table  of  Lessons  sanctioned,  with 
a  proviso  that  the  use  was  not  to  be  compulsory  for 
seven  years,  he  wrote,  *  I  am  thankful  that  I  have  yet 
seven  more  years  in  which  I  can  continue  my  ministry 
in  the  Church,  at  the  end  of  which  I  will,  sooner  than 
read  the  mutilated  Bible,  cheerfully  go  to  prison.' 


250  LIFE  OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.        chap.  ix. 

The  permissive  use  of  the  new  Lectionary  did  not 
begin  until  January  i,  1872.  The  next  morning  the 
Bishop  received  a  letter  saying  :  *  You  will  be  interested 
to  hear  that  our  mutual  friend  Burgon  concluded  the 
second  lesson  on  December  31  with,  "  Here  endeth  the 
old  Lectionary,"  and  next  morning  began  the  new  one.' 

June  22. — Early,  Church.  Wrote.  Lectionary  Com- 
mittee. To  the  Queen's  garden  party,  which  quite  a  success, 
fine,  pretty,  and  amusing.  Lord  John  changed  on  Ritual — 
agrees  with  my  objections  to  second  Report.  Dined  Admiral 
Howard's. 

Jidy  II. — Earlyish.  Confirmed  Westminster  School. 
Drove  with  Dean  of  Westminster  to  breakfast  at  H.  Gibbs' — 
large  party.  Drove  back  to  lodgings,  and  Lectionary  Com- 
mittee.    Letters.     Rode  down  to  Fulham — great  gathering. 

Dean  Stanley's  letter,  inviting  the  Bishop  to  the 
Confirmation  chronicled  above,  is  : — 

May  I  send  a  reminder  of  the  Confirmation  on  Saturday 
the  nth,  at  10  A.M.  ?  TJiis  is  a  subject  on  which  we  entirely 
agree,  and  you  know  that  it  is  with  the  most  unfeigned  pleasure 
that  I  look  forwards  or  backwards  to  your  Confirmations, 
whether  at  Sonning  or  Westminster ;  so  you  must  not  dis- 
appoint me. 

The  next  letter  was  occasioned  by  a  great  and  dear 
friend  of  the  Bishop,  a  regular  communicant,  with- 
drawing from  the  Holy  Communion  on  account  of  the 
ritual  extravagances  of  the  Rector.  The  Bishop  was 
in  the  Church  at  the  time,  and  his  diary  notes  :  '  Did 
not  assist  in  the  celebration  because  of 's  eccen- 
tricities.' 

August  I,  1S68. 

I  thank  you  for  receiving  so  kindly  what  I  said,  that  you 
were  glad  that  I  named  it.  Now,  I  do  not  for  a  moment 
question  the  full  right  of  a  layman — especially  one  like  you, 
a  sound,  intelligent,  active,  well-informed  layman — to  use  his 
influence  against  both  the  chance  of  Ritualism  and  the  ten- 


i868.  DIOCESAN  ADMINISTRATION.  25 1 

dency  of  the  clergy  (some,  I  mean,  of  them)  to  take  on  them- 
selves the  right  to  alter  old-established  things  according  to 
their  fancy.  But  I  cannot  but  believe  that  to  withdraw  from 
the  Holy  Communion  from  dislike  to  the  things  and  to  the 
man  is  a  sin,  and  may  be  most  dangerous  to  your  own  soul. 
I  feel,  too,  that  it  may  be  most  injurious  to  the  parish.     I 

quite  see  all  the  peculiar  provocations  which  attend 's 

course  ;  but  all  this  only  makes  me  the  more  anxious  about 
you,  because  all  this  tends  to  stir  up  your  own  sense  of 
injustice,  and  to  provoke  you  against  the  man,  and  it  is  so 
very  easy  to  mistake  gratifying  this  personal  feeling  for 
standing  up  for  a  principle.  Now  I  have  said  my  say,  and  I 
know  for  our  old  love's  sake  you  will  forgive  me. 

In  the  course  of  this  biography  several  different 
instances  have  been  given  of  the  Bishop's  Diocesan 
management,  by  letters  taken  from  the  copying-books. 
Those  here  selected  are  typical  of  the  way  in  which  the 
Bishop  handled  two  of  the  most  delicate  questions  of 
diocesan  administration. 

Both  the  clergymen  to  whom  these  letters  were  ad- 
dressed had  estranged  their  parishioners  from  them, 
one  by  systematic  careless  neglect  of  his  duty,  the  other 
by  the  introduction  of  ritual  observances  before  he  had 
won  the  confidence  of  his  people.  The  difference  will 
be  readily  perceived  In  the  Bishop's  tone  towards  the 
one  who  had  erred  from  excess  of  zeal. 

The  Bishop  of  Oxford  to  the  Rev. . 

Lavington,  August  15,  1868. 
My  dear  Sir, — I  have  waited  a  few  days  before  I  replied 
to  your  letter  of  the  8th,  in  order  that  I  might  correct  by 
reflection  any  first  wrong  impression.  I  know  too  well  my 
own  deficiencies  not  to  be  very  reluctant  to  find  fault  with 
any  of  my  brethren  in  the  ministry  ;  and  I  know  by  eighteen 
years'  experience  as  a  parish  priest  so  many  of  the  parish 
priest's  difficulties  that  I  am  always  more  ready  to  encourage 
than  to  spurn. 


252  LIFE  OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.        chap.  ix. 

But  I  cannot  reply  honestly  to  your  letter  without  saying 
what  it  is  painful  to  me  to  utter,  and  I  fear  must  be  painful 
to  you  to  read.  The  picture  you  draw  of  your  parish  is 
indeed  melancholy — the  want  of  all  lay  co-operation,  the 
inability  to  get  your  church  restored,  the  dying  out  even  of 
your  school,  the  presence  of  a  total  stagnation.  You  ask 
me  to  advise  you  how  to  act.  Now,  to  make  such  advice  in 
any  degree  useful  it  must  be  based  on  a  knowledge  of  the 
causes  of  your  difficulties.  Now,  in  searching  for  these  causes 
I  cannot  overlook  the  fact  that  this  stagnation  of  all  things 
and  want  of  lay  sympathy  is  a  rare  and  exceptional  thing  in 
my  diocese,  and  further,  that  even  in  your  own  parish  under 
the  care  of  the  present  rector  of ,  everything  was  begin- 
ning to  look  different.     These  reflections  force  on   me  the 

question,  is  there  in  the  ministry  at any  reason  for  this 

peculiarity  of  failure  }  Now,  I  am  grieved  to  say  it,  but  I  can- 
not doubt  that  there  is.  There  is,  in  my  judgment,  a  sad  and 
serious  lack  of  affectionate  earnestness  and  care  for  souls  in 

the  whole  conduct  of  your  ministry  at .     I  hear  of  you 

as  almost  always  from  home,  returning  only  for  the  Sunday 
duty,  and  frequently  not  even  for  that,  casting  that  duty  on 
neighbour  after  neighbour  until  they  are  weary  of  doing 
your  duty.  This  course  is  quite  incompatible  with  your 
gaining  influence  with  your  people,  and  at  once  explains  to 
me  all  the  difficulties  which  you  experience  and  others  escape. 
Then  as  to  the  school,  I  think  your  removing  it  from  the  con- 
venient neighbourhood  of  the  church  and  parsonage  to  its 
present  inconvenient  distance  from  both  and  from  a  great  part 
of  the  population  accounts  for  its  decrease  from  70  to  30 
children,  and  to  its  being  in  a  condition  which  I  have  no  doubt 
fully  justified  the  condemnation  of  H.  M.'s  Inspector.  My 
advice,  then,  my  dear  sir,  must  go  to  the  root  of  the  matter. 
Show  the  people  that  you  have  a  pastor's  heart,  and  I  do  not 
think  they  will  be  long  in  giving  you  the  natural  return,  the 
support  of  the  parish.  I  cannot  tell  you  how  earnestly  I  long 
for  such  a  change  in  your  ministry  in  its  fundamental  cha- 
racter. I  see  not  the  love  of  Christ,  I  see  not  the  love  of 
souls,  I  see  not  faith  in  your  Master's  presence  in  it.  Your 
ministry  looks  to  me  like  the  stinted  unwilling  service   of 


i868.  ADVICE. 


253 


that  fearful  character,  the  mere  professional  priest.  God 
knows  if  this  is  so.  I  speak  but  of  the  aspect  which  out- 
wardly your  ministry  wears.  My  advice  for  which  you  ask  is  : 
Pray — Pray  for  more  thorough  conversion  of  heart — pray  for 
ministerial  zeal — pray  for  love  to  Christ.  Pray  for  the  out- 
pouring of  the  Spirit  on  your  own  soul  and  on  your  ministry, 
and  then  live  in  your  parish,  live  for  your  parish,  work  in  it 
as  a  man  only  can  work  who  has  come  to  his  work  from 
intercession  for  his  people.  Do  this,  and  all  improvements 
will,  I  have  no  doubt,  follow  ;  and  at  all  events  you  will  be 
ready  to  render  up  your  account  with  joy,  and  not  with 
sorrow,     I  am,  most  truly  yours,  ^    „  ^ 

The  Bishop  of  Oxford  to  the  Rev. . 

Coed  Coch,  October  26,  186S, 

My  dear  Mr. , — I  cannot  tell  you — for  I  have  re- 
peatedly shown  you — how  earnest  has  been  my  wish  to  help 

you,     I   placed  you  at  P ,  risking  the  annoyance     my 

placing  you  there,   if  you  were  not  more  prudent  than  at 

A ,  must  cause  me,  because,  being  convinced  of  your  zeal 

and  feeling  deeply  for  your  needs,  I  determined  to  give  you  a 
new  trial.  It  is  a  very  deep  disappointment  to  me  that  you 
have  so  greatly  failed  to  win  the  confidence  of  your  flock. 
The  points  of  complaint  I  chiefly  hear  of  are  these  : — 

I.  That  your  temper  is  very  little  under  restraint. 

II.  That  you  seem  to  have  very  little  understanding 
of  your  people,  and  therefore  most  uselessly  offend  them ; 
e.  g.  that  you  have  set  about  teaching  them  to  bow  to  the 
holy  table — a  foolish  thing  in  almost  any  place,  and  most 

unwise    in  such    a  place   as   P ;  again,   that   you   have 

offended  their  prejudices  by  the  use  of  tawdry  flags,  &c.,  in 
decorations. 

III.  That  instead  of  your  preaching  prominently  forward 
Christ  and  His  salvation,  or  even  Scripture  subjects,  you 
preach  on  mere  ecclesiastical  subjects  ;  quote  Fathers  and 
Popes  when  they  want  God's  Word  and  the  milk  of  the 
Gospel — nay,  that  beyond  this,  you  have  preached  against  the 
Reformation. 


254  LIFE  OF  BISHOP   IVILBERFORCE.        chap.  ix. 

IV.  Then  I  hear  that  instead  of  heartily  seeking  recon- 
ciHation  with  the  farmers  and  others  who  have  taken  offence, 
you  keep  them  at  arm's  length.  Now,  will  you  at  once  and 
heartily  on  my  advice  alter  all  this  }     It  will  be  impossible  for 

me  to  retain  you  at  P ,  unless  by  such  alterations  you  can 

gain  the  confidence  and  affection  of  your  flock.  For  great  as 
is  my  feeling  for  you,  the  souls  of  the  people  must  have  my 

first  thought.  And  yet,  if  you  are  forced  to  leave  P ,  what 

can  I  do  for  you  .-'  How  could  I  place  you  elsewhere  or  recom- 
mend you  for  another  post  with  no  hope  but  of  your  repeating 
elsewhere  these  sad  mistakes  .'' 

I  write  to  you  now  not  in  complaint,  not  wanting  any 
reply,  but  simply  out  of  mere  kindly  interest  in  you  and  your 
family,  and  in  the  hope  that  you  may  yet  so  amend  your 
parish  administration  that,  with  the  goodwill  of  your  parish- 
ioners generally,  I  may  be  able  to  continue  you  in  your 
charge.     I  am  most  truly  yours,  e    Qvon- 

The  next  diary  entry  shows  the  beginning  of  the 
last  great  sorrow  the  Bishop  was  called  upon  to  en- 
dure :  the  secession  to  Rome  of  his  only  daughter. 
The  loss  of  his  brother  Robert,  great  as  that  was, 
was  nothing  as  compared  with  this.  For  years  the 
Bishop  had  feared  this  loss,  and  the  recurrence  in  his 
diary,  after  a  visit  to  or  from  his  daughter,  of  such 
lines  as,  '  Henry  more  Protestant  than  ever,*  show 
how  eagerly  he  caught  at  any  hope  that  the  catastrophe 
might  be  averted.  Although,  as  the  diary  entry  shows, 
the  end  was  certain,  yet  the  actual  secession  did  not  take 
place  for  some  two  months.  In  September,  Archbishop 
Longley  was  taken  seriously  ill,  and  in  October  he 
died.  For  some  days  before  his  death  it  was  well 
known  that  the  Archbishop  could  not,  in  all  human  pro- 
bability, recover.  And  it  was  a  singular  coincidence, 
that  the  announcement  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Pye's  secession 
to  Rome  appeared  in  some  papers,  notably  in  '  The 


1 868.  A   MOURNFUL  EPISODE. 


255 


Guardian,'  in  juxtaposition  with  the  death  of  the 
Archbishop. 

Painful  as  indeed  it  must  be  to  withdraw  the  veil 
which  overshadows  this  mournful  episode,  yet,  unless 
it  is  done,  the  Bishop's  life  would  be  incomplete.  The 
diary  and  letters  reveal,  better  than  anything  else  could 
do,  how  grievously  this  fresh  sorrow  weighed  upon  the 
Bishop's  already  stricken  heart. 

August  29. — Lavington.  Early.  Wrote.  Church.  Wrote 
again  ;  a  good  deal  of  diocesan  business  after.  At  luncheon  a 
terrible  letter  from  H,  Pye,  which  almost  stunned  me.  He 
is  going  over,  after  all,  to  Rome,  and,  of  course,  my  poor 

E .    For  years  I  have  prayed  incessantly  against  this  last 

act  of  his,  and  now  it  seems  denied  me.  It  seems  as  if  my 
heart  would  break  at  this  insult  out  of  my  own  bosom  to 
God's  truth  in  England's  Church,  and  preference  for  the  vile 
harlotry  of  the  Papacy.  God  forgive  them.  I  have  struggled 
on  my  knees  against  feelings  of  wrath  against  him  in  a  long, 
long  weeping  cry  to  God.  May  He  judge  between  this  wrong- 
doer and  me  !  Dear  Claughton,  all  kind  love  and  sympathy ; 
so  my  dear  Reginald. 

August  30  (Sunday). — Woke  over  and  over  again  with  a 
sore  heart,  yet  God,  in  His  mercy,  gave  some  sleep,  and  at 
the  Holy  Communion  to-day  I  could  more  leave  all  to  Him. 
He  is  '  taking  me  aside  from  the  multitude,'  indeed.  Oh, 
that  it  may  be  to  open  my  mouth  with  power  against  the 
villanies  of  the  Papacy !  Dear  Claughton  preached  an 
admirable  sermon  on  Praise — on  the  ten  lepers.  The  sin, 
not  being  without  feelings  of  thankfulness,  but  not  going 
back  to  praise.     On  the  Hill  in  afternoon. 

August  31. — Bishop  of  Rochester,  Mrs.  Claughton,  and 
Kitty  went.  I  rode  on  Hill.  Ernest  and  F came.  Some- 
what soothed  by  the  presence  of  these  beloved  ones,  but 
ifihcEret  lateri  lethalis  arundo. 

October  21. — (Bangor).  Up  betimes.  A  letter  from  Ernest 
tells  me  H and  E have  joined  the  debased  commu- 
nion. Utterly  crushed.  Tried  to  find  refuge  in  prayer.  All  sorts 
of  temptations  in  the  great  darkness.     I  have  prayed  against 


256  LIFE  OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.         chap.  ix. 

this  daily,  and  oftentimes  a  day,  for  years.  I  have  laboured  ; 
spent  myself,  in  public  and  in  private  ;  and  it  is  come.  Lord 
have  mercy  upon  them  and  forgive  them  ;  forgive  this  wilful- 
ness, and  let  it  not  be  the  loss  of  their  souls,  too.  I  hardly 
yet  see  it  in  all  its  bearings  only  that  bonds  and  afflictions 
abide  me. 

October  24. — Early  church.  Wrote  a  good  deal.  The 
Gladstones  came  by  luncheon.  The  morning  wet,  but 
cleared.  A  good  walk  in  the  afternoon  with  Gladstone,  Sir 
Stephen,  and  Prevost.     Gladstone  noble  as  ever.     A  pain  at 

my  heart  by  night  and  by  day  for  beloved  E and  for 

H . 

October  25. — Woke  early,  and  very  low,  having  woke  con- 
tinually since  2.30,  and  ever  the  pain  in  my  heart  for  E . 

My  head  worn  ;  could  hardly  sit  down  to  a  sermon,  but  after 
prayer  seemed  helped.  Prepared  sermon  on  the  disciple 
seeing  Jesus  praying,  and  asking,  'Teach  us,'  &c.  Afternoon 
one  or  two  letters,  and  read  the  '  Chapter  of  an  Auto- 
biography.' Shows  the  clearness  of  Gladstone's  mind. 
Recommend  not  publishing  till  after  the  election.  Evening, 
church.  Dear  Prevost  preached  a  most  unpretending  but,  to 
me,  moving  sermon  on  the  love  of  Christ  to  His  people.  I 
hope  I  may  be  the  better  for  it. 

The  Bishop  of  Oxford  to  Sir  Charles  Anderson. 

October  23,  186S. 

My  very  dear  old  Friend, — The  great  fear  which  for  many 
years  has  every  now  and  then  haunted  me,  but  which  has 
been  less  of  late,  has  at  last  fallen  on  me  in  its  full  complete- 
ness. H.  Pye  has  become  a  Papist,  and  taken  over  my 
daughter  with  him.  It  is  worse  with  me  than  even  my 
apprehensions  foretold.  I  am  utterly  prostrated.  The  insult 
to  our  Church  from  one  so  near  to  us,  the  reproaches  I  shall 
have  personally  to  bear  from  those  who  little  know  how  I 
have  striven,  guarded,  and  prayed  against  this  in  all  its  most 
distant  approaches,  the  separation  from  my  child,  and  the  fear 
for  their  souls,  all  together  press  upon  me  more  heavily  than  I 
am  well  able  to  bear.  It  has  been  a  comfort  to  me  to  have  my 


i868.  A   LIFE'S   CROSS. 


^57 


dear  old  friend  Prevost  with  me  at  the  moment,  for  I  only  heard 

it  yesterday,  and  Ernest's  letters  have  soothed  me  greatly ; 

but  still  there  is  the  settled  pain  at  the  heart  and  the  night 

hauntings.     I  am  ever  affectionately  yours,  „   ^ 

'^  ^  ^  S.  Oxox. 

T/ie  BisJwp  of  Oxford  to  the  Rev.  E.  R.  IVilberforce. 

The  Palace,  Bangor,  N.  Wales,  Oct.  24  [186S]. 

My  dearest  Ernest,— Your  letter  was  the  first  announce- 
ment, nor  have  I  yet  heard  (or  wish  to  hear)  from  either  of 
them.  I  feel  as  a  man  may  feel  who  has  fallen  down  a  preci- 
pice and  is  lying  smashed.  I  am  utterly  prostrated  in  mind 
and  body,  but,  God  helping  me,  I  will  not  yield.  I  have  foimd 
some  rest  in  prayer,  and  your  dear  just  words  are  a  support. 

I  have  to  go  out  now  and  speak  for  S.P.G.     I  should  like 

to  ask  them  all  instead  to  weep  with  me.     But  I  believe  that 

work  is  my  best  help  after  prayer.     It  was  so  in   1841,  and 

even  with  the  bitterness  of  woe  not  from  God's  hand  direct, 

but  from  man's  wilfulness,  so  it  will  be.     I  have  thought  much 

of  your  loving  proposal   that   I    should   come  and  weep  with 

you.     But  I  believe  I  had  better  keep  straight  on  through  all 

I  had  previously  planned,  unless  I  absolutely  break  down,  then 

I  will  get  into  a  train  and  come.     But  (i)  nothing  will  more 

stir  the  enemy  and  proclaim  the  evil  than  my  seeming  to 

yield.    (2)  All  would   have  to  be  explained  to  everyone  if  I 

break  engagements.    (3)  This  is  a  life's  cross,  and  if  I  stop  once 

it  will  be  for  ever.     (4)  I  have  no  riglit,  whilst  I  can  hold  on, 

to  break  engagements  with  others.     I  seem   to  see  no  future 

in  this  matter,     I  do  not  see  how  I  am  ever  to  have  them  to 

my  house  except  when  I   am   dying.^     The  reason  against 

Henry's  coming  equally  excludes  them.     But  I  shall  make  no 

hasty  resolution.     God  bless  you,  dear  ones.     I  am  your  ever 

loving  father,  ,^    ^ 

^  '  S.  OXON. 

Ilawardcn  Castle. 

P.S. — I  have  got  through   the  S.P.G.  meeting  better  than 
I  dared  hope,  and  come  on  here,  where  I  have  met  dearest 

'  By  his  house,  the  Bishop  meant  his  Episcopal  residence  at  Cuddesdon,  not 
his  private  residence  at  Lavington,  in  which  latter  house  his  brother  Ilenry  was 
frequently  a  guest  after  he  had  joined  the  Roman  communion. 

VOL  III.  S 


258  LIFE  OF  BISHOP   WILBERFORCE.         chap.  ix. 

Prevost,  to  whom  I  could  open  my  heart,  and  that  has  been 

some  relief,  but  there  is  the  settled  heart-pang  I  know  too 

well.     There  are  only  Sir  Stephen,  Prevost,  and  Agnes  here 

now. 

Hawarden  Castle,  Chester,  Oct.  24,  1868. 

My  dearest  Ernest, — Many  thanks  for  your  dear  letter. 
Your  letters  always  cheer  me  as  much  as  anything  can.     I 
have  got  this  morning,  as  you  will  see,  two  letters  from  Henry  ; 
keep  them  and  my  answer  for  me.     I   do  not  know  what  to 
say  about  myself.     I  have  that  settled  pain  at  my  heart  which 
never  changes.     I  slept  a  good  deal,  waking  every  hour  after 
the  first  three  with  that  pain,  but  going  again  to  sleep.     I  tell 
you  all  this   not  of  egotism,  but  because  you  so  lovingly  ask 
it.     I  do  not  feel  to  care  about  anything  ;  everything  has  lost 
its  interest.     I  know  by  experience  that  if  I  am  brave,  and 
go  on,  by  degrees  life,  if  I  live,  will  resume  its  powers.     I  was 
up  early,  and   walked   with   dear  Prevost  to  early   church. 
Gladstone  comes  back  to-day.     It  feels  almost  a  pain  meet- 
ing him.     The    Irish    Church   difference  was   of  itself  bad 
enough,  and    now   this  uncommunicated   load   adds   to   the 
heaviness.     The  wet  day,  the  sighing  wind,  the  falling  rotting 
leaves,  the  heavy  drifting  clouds,  all  seem  in  unison.  It  is,  too, 
so  difficult  to  guard  my  spirit  from  anger  and  impatience. 
The  whole  thing  lies  so  clearly  before  me  that  I  am  for  ever 
needing  to  discipline  my  spirit  not  to  feel  unkindly  to  one  who 
has  robbed  me  of  my  only  daughter  in  blood  and  brought 
reproach  on  the  Church  I  have,    however  imperfectly,  ever 
endeavoured  to  serve.     As  to  the  Papistry  itself,  I  only  more 
than  ever  see  it  to  be  the  great  Cloaca  into  which  all  vile  cor- 
ruptions of  Christianity  run  naturally,  and  loathe  it.  ...  I  am 
ever  your  most  affectionate  father,  c    0\'0>j 

October  31. — Into  Liverpool  after  breakfast,  and  about  the 
docks.  Ships  lading  and  unlading  for  all  the  world — very 
much  interested.  The  Mersey,  too,  beautiful  with  its  full 
cohort  of  vessels — steam,  sail,  and  tug — I  kept  looking  up  the 
Mersey  towards  Blackpool  as  if  I  could  see  H and  E 

'  The  place  where  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Pye  were  received  into  the  Roman  com- 
munion. 


i868.  RELIEF  IN    WORK.  259 

bartering  away  their  birthright  of  Gospel  freedom  and  Church 
truth.     Alas  ! 

The  same  day  the  Bishop  thus  writes  to  his  son 
Ernest : — 

I  am,  thank  God,  already  feeling  the  help  which  He  gives 
to  prayer  and  work,  but  it  rather  drives  me  to  work  to  keep 
my  thoughts  in  order. 

You  may  see  a  review  of  mine  in  yesterday's  'Times  '  on 
the  poems  of  Messrs.  Cautley  and  Brodrick  called  the  '  After- 
glow ' ;  and  the  review  on  Hook's  book  is  in  the  '  Quarterly,'  ^ 
and  I  have  been  setting  myself  to  write  on  Elijah  for  '  Good 
Words.'  I  shall  have  work  enough  to-morrow,  for  they  have 
put  me  to  preach  two  sermons  instead  of  one,  which  is  all  I 
undertook.  I  have  been  this  morning  all  over  the  Liverpool 
docks  with  Robertson  Gladstone,  very  interesting.  I  went 
over  several  ships,  and  the  Mersey  was  quite  full  of  vessels. 
Such  scenes  fill  the  mind  with  thoughts  of  Tyre  and  England, 
and  evermore  my  thoughts  kept  wandering  as  I  looked  up  the 
Mersey  up  to  Blackpool  and  our  domestic  tragedy  there. 

November  i, — Up  early  and  prepared  sermons  with  much 
difficulty.  Heart  hard  and  thoughts  greatly  disturbed,  but 
after  hard  struggle  succeeded.  Large  congregation,  wrote, 
&c,,  and  down  to  Liverpool  for  evening  service  ;  great  crowd  ; 
preached  a  wholly  unwritten  sermon  with  more  comfort  than 
morning. 

November  2. — After  breakfast  to  Liverpool.  Tobacco 
stores  very  curious  ;  the  vast  mass,  from  all  parts  of  the  earth, 
in  different  packages,  barely  a  year's  consumption.  Then 
vaults,  &c.  The  street  full  of  workmen  cheering,  back 
and  early  dinner  and  meeting  at  Philharmonic  successful, 
home  tired  and  bed. 

November  3.— Early  breakfast  and  off;  wrote  letters  in 
train  to  Normanton,  then  Sir  H.  Edwards,  &c.  To  FIull,  where 
Admiral  Buncombe  and  Dean  ;  walked  to  the  docks  ;  quite 
different  from  Liverpool,  and  inferior  vessels.  Dined  Railroad 

'  Lives  of  the  ArchhisJwps  of  Cavferhny,  ])y  Dean  Hook. 
VOL.  UI,  *S  2 


26o  LIFE   OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.         CHAP.  IX. 

Hotel.  Meeting  in  rifle  drill-sheds,  between  2,000  and  3,000, 
for  ragged  schools,  successful.  Special  train  to  Pocklington 
and  so  to  Kilnwick. 

The  impending  general  election  caused  Mr.  Disraeli 
to  write  to  the  Bishop.     He  says  : — 

In  the  great  struggle  in  which  I  am  embarked,  it  is  a  matter 
of  great  mortification  to  me  that  I  am  daily  crossed,  and 
generally  opposed,  by  the  High  Church  party.  Only  think  of 
Dean  Hook  opposing  Henry  Lennox  at  Chichester. 

The  Bishop's  reply  points  out  one  of  the  principal 
reasons  which  led  the  Church  party  to  regard  Mr. 
Disraeli's  administration  with  suspicion  : — 

The  Bishop  of  Oxford  to  the  Right  Hon.  B.  Disraeli. 

September  il,  1868. 

My  dear  Mr.  Disraeli, — I  have  received  your  letter  of  the 
9th  to-day,  and  by  this  post.  I  am  grieved  at  what  you  say 
as  to  the  attitude  of  the  Church  party  with  regard  to  the 
Government.  I  am  utterly  astonished  at  what  you  tell  me 
of  Dr.  Hook's  conduct  ;  when  he  last  spoke  to  me  on  the 
Chichester  election  he  was  warmly  for  the  house  of  Richmond. 

There  is  a  small  ultra  party  who  look  with  hope  to  dis- 
establishment, but  they  are  almost  as  politically  powerless  as 
the  Evangelicals.  The  vast  body  of  sound  Churchmen  are 
entirely  with  you  on  the  great  question  of  the  day.*"  But  I 
should  not  tell  you  all  that  I  believe  to  be  the  truth  if  I  did 
not  add  that  there  is  at  this  moment  a  jealous  and  an  alarmed 
watchfulness  of  your  administration  of  Church  patronage — 
men  who  through  the  long  period  of  Palmerston's  administra- 
tion held  their  fidelity  in  the  barrenness  of  an  ostracised 
position  are  soured  by  seeing  or  thinking  they  see  those 
who,  by  steadfastness  of  principle  and  quietness  of  action, 
have  the  greatest  influence  amongst  Churchmen  passed  over 
for  unknown  men  or   men  of  the  long-patronised   minority. 

"  The  Irish  Church. 


i868.  CHURCH  CONGRESS  IN    IRELAND.  26 1 

I  had  an  earnest  entreaty  lately  from  the  diocese  of  Peter- 
borough that  I  would  bring  this  matter  before  you,  with  the 
assurance  from  laymen  and  clergy  that  the  character  of  the 
appointment  to  that  see  would  determine  two  seats.  I  de- 
clined troubling  you  on  the  matter,  but  I  do  not  like  to  be 
silent  now  that  you  have  spoken.  I  believe  that  there  is 
great  danger  of  your  losing  the  hearty  support  of  the  great 
body  of  the  Church  party  unless  they  see  the  men  who  repre- 
sent them  adopted  by  your  administration. 

In  September  the  Bishop  went  to  Ireland  for  the 
Church  Congress,  at  which  he  was  the  only  representa- 
tive of  the  English  Episcopate.  During  his  stay  he  was 
the  guest  of  his  old  friend,  Archbishop  Trench. 

September  27. — With  Archbishop  to  Archdeacon  Lee's 
church.  The  congregation  poor  ;  a  very  small  attendance  at 
Communion.  Afternoon  with  Archbishop  to  Cathedral  of 
St.  Patrick's ;  great  congregation ;  he  preached  an  excellent 
and  characteristic  sermon. 

September  28. — Morning  undisturbed.  Finished  and  sent 
off  review  on  Hook's  *  Cranmer,'  and  wrote  many  letters.  A 
large  dinner  party,  and  all  well  arranged  and  handsome  with- 
out any  display  ;  Archbishop  and  Mrs.  Beresford,  many 
Bishops,  Nelson,  &c..  Lord  Talbot  of  Malahide  and  daughter. 

September  29. — The  Congress  began  with  service  in  St. 
Patrick's  ;  admirable  sermon  from  Dean  of  Cork,  of  which 
Bishop  of  Cork  said,  '  It  was  an  admirably  arranged  and 
delivered  sermon,  clever,  eloquent,  argumentative,  illustrative, 
and  had  not  in  it  Gospel  enough  to  save  a  tomtit ! '  Very  large 
Communion.  Then  Congress,  and  large  evening  party  at  palace. 

September  30. — Congress  all  day ;  after  it,  at  3,  I  and 
Lord  Nelson  and  Lady  Alice  and  Rose  Trench  went  to 
Howth  and  all  round  it — beautiful.  At  5,  good  Shaw 
Stewart  came  and  wrote  for  and  with  me  till  dinner,  so  that 
I  got  through  many  letters.  A  large  dinner  party  again. 
Conversazione  evening. 

The  Bishop's  diary  here  records  one  or  two  stories, 
such  as,  '  Archbishop  Trench  told  me  that  once,  when 


262  LIFE  OF  BISHOP   WILBERFORCE.         CHAP.  IX. 

he  was  asked  for  alms  in  the  street,  he  said,  "  I  never 
ofive  to  a  bee^ar  in  the  street."  The  man  looked  at 
him,  and  replied,  "  Sure,  your  Reverence,  and  where 
would  you  bid  me  wait  upon  you  ?  "  '  Another  story 
is  of  Bishop  Phillpotts.  A  clergyman  came  to  him  one 
day,  wishing  to  renew  a  lease.  The  Bishop  named 
the  sum  he  would  accept  as  the  fine  for  renewal,  which 
the  applicant  thought  too  large,  and  declined.  The 
Bishop  kept  him  to  luncheon,  and,  before  leaving,  the 
man  changed  his  mind,  and  said  :  '  I  have  been  think- 
ing over  this,  and  we  must  give  the  sum  rather  than 
endanger  the  lease.' 

The  Bishop  :  *  I  thought  when  you  came  to  consider  it, 

you  would  view  it  in  that  Hght.' 

'  Well,  your  lordship  has  certainly  got  the  lion's  share.' 
'  Really — but  I   am  quite  sure,  Mr. ,  you  would   not 

have  me  have  that  of  the  other  creature  ! ' 

From  Dublin  the  Bishop  writes  to  his  son 
Ernest  : — 

I  send  one  line  to  say  that  the  Congress  is  going  on  very 
well,  and  must  do  a  great  deal  of  good  here.  The  tone  of 
the  Irish  Church  seems  to  me  to  have  risen  wonderfully  since 
I  was  in  Ireland  a  few  years  ago.  I  preached  last  night  to 
some  5,000  in  St.  Patrick's  Cathedral.  I  was  very  much 
tired,  but,  D.G.,  am  all  right  to-day. 

October  3. — Wrote  all  the  morning.  At  i,  lunched  with 
Hope.  Lady  Mildred  ill,  and  their  coming  to  Armagh 
delayed.  To  Armagh.  Dr.  Reeves  lionising,  and  very  good 
company.  To  palace  at  6.30 ;  very  kindly  received,  but,  as 
usual  in  a  new  place,  very  low  indeed. 

From  Armagh,  on  October  4,  the  Bishop  again 
writes  to  his  son  Ernest :  — 

I  am.  wonderfully  cheered  by  your  dear  letter  of  October  2 
received  this  morning.  I  came  here  last  night,  and  it  seems 
strange  and  lonely,  and  away  from  all.     At  Dublin,  being 


l868.  VISITS  IN  IRELAND.  263 

with  the  Trenchs  had  a  great  savour  of  home,  and  I  felt  close 
to  the  sea  and  near  you  all  ;  but  this  early  Sunday  morning, 
I  feel  in  the  land  that  is  very  far  away,  so  I  thank  you  doubly 
for  your  dear  letter. 

I  think  the  Congress  showed  far  more  strength  in  the 
body  than  I  knew  it  possessed,  and  certainly  the  rise  in  its 
tone  in  Church  matters  even  since  I  was  here  is  very 
remarkable.  I  have  not  yet  had  any  holiday.  Up  early 
for  morning  Communion,  writing  letters,  &c.,  at  every  spare 
moment,  and  watching  and  speaking  at  the  sections,  has  been 
rather  hard  work.     I  expect  now  a  little  rest. 

October  9. — Beautiful  morning.  Walked  along  lake,  and 
after  luncheon  drove  to  Antrim  and  Randal's  Tower,  a  very 
fine  place  and  great  beauty.  Lord  O'Neil  simple,  humble 
and  unpretending  as  if  still  a  country  curate — God  honoured 
in  the  family,  and  so  all  happy. 

October  10. — After  breakfast  with  Bishop  of  Derry  and 
Mrs.  Alexander  to  Sir  Harvey  Bruce's.  Sea  most  beautiful, 
long  rollers  breaking  on  traprock.  Wonderful  section  of  chalk 
overlaid  by  basalt.  As  we  coasted  towards  Londonderry, 
where,  after  luncheon  and  walk  in  glen,  again  on  cliff,  from 
whence  Bishop  and  I  dislodged  cormorants — nothing  between 
us  and  North  Pole.  Met  the  Hopes  in  train,  and  hospitably 
lodged  together  at  Bishop's  at  Derry. 

October  11  (Sunday). — Early  Communion,  and  then  I 
preached  sermon  on  '  Alabaster  Box '  for  S.P.G. ;  large  con- 
gregation, and  very  attentive,  good  collection,  42/. — 35/.  last 
year  with  Selwyn.  Early  dinner,  which  gave  me  hideous 
indigestion.  N.B. — Not  to  cat  at  that  time  again.  Walked 
round  walls  with  Hopes  and  Mrs.  Alexander.  The  Bishop's 
sermon  at  night — -Joshua  possessing  the  land — a  little  dis- 
appointed me,  though  good  and  eloquent  bits. 

October  20.- — Wrote  a  good  deal.  Walked  with  Arch- 
bishop and  Mrs.  Trench.  Off  for  Dublin.  Sea  dark  and 
threatening.  Went  on  board  at  7,  in  rain — a  very  tossing 
rolling  night,  but — I  believe,  mainly  through  champagne — 
escaped  actual  sickness,  and  by  12.30  at  Penrhos.  All  ready 
for  me.    How  kind  people  are !    Reflection  of  God's  goodness. 


264  LIFE  OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.         chap.  ix. 

Octobey  28. — After  breakfast  off  for  Holywell,  where 
meeting  for  S.P.G.  ;  many  men  ;  I  spoke  with  interest,  though 
so  low  I  could  hardly  bring  myself  to  begin.  A  very  bad 
account  of  the  dear  Archbishop  —  I  think,  dying.  On  to 
Knowsley,  where  Lord  and  Lady  Chelmsford  and  Miss 
Thesiger,  Col.  Wilbraham  and  daughter,  &c.  Lord  Derby  in 
bed.  Chelmsford  :  '  The  old  Government  the  Derby,  this  the 
Hoax.' 

October  29. —  Knowsley.  Early.  Office,  News  of  dear 
Archbishop's  death.  Alas !  alas  !  how  hard  to  serve  under 
another  after  these  six  years  with  him.  Wrote  letters  all  the 
morning  for  3^  hours.  Walked  with  Lord  Chesham  and 
Col.  Wilbraham  about  the  park.  Many  red  deer.  Great 
storm  of  wind  and  hail,  &c.  Sat  i^  hour  talking  with  Lord 
Derby  in  his  bed.  Very  keen.  '  What  will  the  Whigs  not 
swallow  1 '  '  Disraeli  very  sanguine  still  about  the  elections.' 
He  said  he  was  very  glad  he  had  not  the  responsibility  of 
appointing  the  Archbishop — had  always  felt  how  difficult  it 
would  be.  He  said  '  Jack  Campbell,  during  a  trial,  was 
reading  some  French  evidence.'  Blackburn  said,  *  How  he 
murders  it.'     Lord  Chelmsford  :  '  No,  he  is  only  scotching  it.' 

The  same  day  the  Bishop  writes  to  his  son  Ernest : — 

Nothing  can  be  kinder  than  they  are  here.  How  very 
kind  so  many  are  to  me.  Since  I  wrote  this  I  have  had  a 
talk  with  Lord  Derby  in  his  bed  ;  very  interesting  on 
politics,  &c.  I  am  so  grieved  to  have  lost  the  good  Arch- 
bishop. It  will  make  the  greatest  possible  difference  to  me, 
as  I  cannot  conceive  any  other  acting  in  the  same  loving 
hearty  way  he  did  with  me. 

From  the  last  entry  in  the  diary,  and  from  the 
letter  which  follows  it,  it  is  abundantly  clear  that  the 
Bishop  had  no  expectation  of  succeeding  to  the  Arch- 
bishopric. This  is  further  borne  out  by  a  sentence 
taken  from  a  letter,  written  the  same  day,  to  Sir 
Charles  Anderson  :  '  That  fear  I  spoke  to  you  of  lest 
he  should  injure  his  election  cry  is  so  likely  to  prevent 


1 868.  SYMPATHY  IN  LIVERPOOL.  265 

Disraeli,  in  this,  doing  what,  from  his  convictions, 
would  be  his  own  course.'  A  day  or  two  after  the 
Bishop  thus  writes  to  his  dear  friend  Bishop  Hamil- 
ton : — '  It  is,  indeed,  time  for  prayer.  I  am  daily 
praying  that  we  may  have  in  mercy  t/ie  right  man,  not 

in  judgment  another It  can  hardly  be  that  under 

any  possible  Archbishop  /  can  act  as  I  have  done  for 
the  last  six  years,  so  that  I  feel  shelved  as  to  the  general 
work  of  the  Church.  It  is  curious,  with  the  impres- 
sions of  Churchmen's  unpopularity,  that  the  workmen 
yesterday  at  Liverpool,  turned  out,  filled  the  street 
and  welcomed  me  with  the  heartiest  cheers.'  ^ 

What  others  thought  is  evidenced  by  a  letter  from 
Dean  Hook  to  Sir  Charles  Anderson  : — 

The  Dean  of  CJiichester  to  Sir  Charles  Anderson. 

The  Deanery,  Chichester,  Oct.  30,  1868. 

My  dear  Sir  Charles, — Oxford  for  Canterbury.  Do  write 
to  me,  and  say  whether  we  can  do  anything.  He  may  refuse 
the  place,  but  it  ought  to  be  offered  to  him.  It  is  his  due 
from  the  Church,  and,  if  offered,  for  the  Church's  sake  he 
ought  to  accept  it,  though,  if  he  does  accept,  I  doubt  whether 
he  will  die  in  his  bed.  I  expect  a  fearful  persecution  of  the 
clergy.  I  am  under  the  deepest  obligations  to  our  dear 
Bishop,  and  if  you  will  tell  me  what  I  (who  have  for  ten  years 
retired  from  the  world)  can  do,  I  will  attempt  it.  My  wife, 
like  yours,  is  on  a  sick  bed  and  never  likely  to  be  again 
robust.  We  shall  sometimes  pray  for  you,  and  in  your 
prayers  let  us  not  be  forgotten.     Yours  affectionately, 

W.  F.  Hook. 

The  Bishop  presumed  that  Mr.  Disraeli's  con- 
victions were  those  which  are  expressed  in  this 
letter : — 

'  Page  259. 


266  LIFE   OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.         CHAP.  IX. 

The  Right  Hon.  B.  Disraeli  to  the  Bishop  of  Oxford. 

Balmoral  Castle,  September  28,  1868. 

My  dear  Lord, — Since  we  separated  in  Bond  Street  I 
have  not  had  a  moment,  or  I  should  have  noticed  before  this 
Dean  Hook's  letter.^ 

I  read  it  with  great  pain.  It  seemed  to  me  so  violent, 
and  written  in  such  complete  ignorance  of  the  times  and  what 
is  happening.     It  is  the  spirit  of  a  provincial  Laud. 

Notwithstanding  the  fine  sentiments  in  which  it  is  very  easy 
to  indulge  for  those  who  are  not  responsible,  it  is  all  over  with 
the  Church  of  England  if  she  be  disconnected  with  the  State. 

Even  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  without  Rome  would 
be  weakened. 

I  think  the  chief  Minister  of  this  country,  if  he  be  ignorant 
of  the  bent  of  the  national  feeling  at  a  crisis,  must  be  an 
idiot.  His  means  of  arriving  at  the  truth  are  so  multifarious. 
Now  certainly  I  hold  that  the  long  pent-up  feeling  of  this 
nation  against  ultra-Ritualism  will  pronounce  itself  at  the 
impending  election.  The  feeling  has  been  long  accumulating  ; 
its  repression  might  have  been  retarded  ;  circumstances  have 
brought  an  unexpected  opportunity,  and  what  I  presumed  to 
foretell  at  one  of  our  Church  meetings,  some  years  ago  in 
Bucks,  has  come  to  pass.  The  questions  of  labour  and  liberty 
are  settled,  the  rise  of  religious  questions  may  be  anticipated 
in  an  eminently  religious  people,  undisturbed  in  their  industry 
and  secure  in  their  freedom. 

It  will  be  a  Protestant  Parliament,  though  it  may  not  be  a 
Church  Parliament. 

But  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  every  wise  man  on  our 
side  should  attract  the  Protestant  feeling,  as  much  as  practica- 
ble, to  the  Church  of  England. 

It  has  been  diverted  from  the  Church  of  England  in  Scot- 
land. There,  the  Protestant  feeling  is  absolutely  enlisted 
against  us.  If  we  let  it  escape  from  us  in  England,  all  is  over. 

It  appears  to  me  that  if  we  act  in  the  spirit  of  the  Dean  of 
Chichester,  we  may  all  live  to  see  the  great  Church  of  Eng- 

*  The  letter  referred  to  by  Mr.  Disraeli  was  a  published  one. 


1 868.  THE  NEW  ARCHBISHOP.  267 

land  subside  into  an  Episcopalian  sect.    I  will  struggle  against 
this  with  my  utmost  energy. 

I  have  delayed  writing  to  you  several  days  because  I 
wanted  to  get  a  quiet  half-hour ;  and  there  is  not  a  sentence 
in  this  in  which  I  have  not  been  interrupted.  Carrying  on 
the  government  of  a  country  six  hundred  miles  from  the 
metropolis  doubles  the  labour.  The  stream  of  telegrams  and 
boxes  is  really  appalling.  Nevertheless,  though  I  have  only 
partially  conveyed  my  feelings,  I  think  it  best  to  send  it  for 
what  it  is  worth.     Yours  sincerely,  -. 

November  12. — Blenheim,  After  breakfast,  I  to  Culham 
for  prize-giving,  &c.  Mowbray  there,  redolent  with  joy.  Good 
clerical  gathering.  Laity  mostly  about  elections.  Evening 
to  Blenheim,  Lady  Churchill  heard  from  Mrs.  Wellesley 
that  Bishop  of  London  goes  to  Canterbury. 

November  13. — Wrote  a  good  deal.  Walked  with  Lord 
Churchill  round  park.  The  Duke  told  me  of  Disraeli's  ex- 
citement when  he  came  out  of  Royal  Closet.  Some  struggle 
about  the  Primacy.  Lord  Malmesbury  also  said  that  when 
he  spoke  to  Disraeli  he  said,  *  Don't  bring  any  more  bothers 
before  me  ;  I  have  enough  already  to  drive  a  man  mad.'  My 
belief  is  that  the  Queen  pressed  Tait,  and  against  possibly 
Ely,  or  some  such  appointment, 

November  15, — Up  by  early  train.  At  lodgings  found  a 
nice  letter  from  the  Bishop  of  London,  announcing  his  accept- 
ance of  Canterbury,  The  consecration  (Bishop  of  Peter- 
borough), The  Archbishop  of  York  chagrined  manifestly. 
Good  sermon.  Went  to  London  House,  and  cordial  talk 
with  Bishop  and  Catherine  ;  they  earnestly  desiring  me  to 
succeed. 

November  19. — After  breakfast  to  London  for  Ritual 
Commission,  Bishop  of  Gloucester  very  fierce  about  eccle- 
siastical appointments,  especially  as  to  Lincoln  for  London. 
Walpole  also,  I  think  general.  Bishop  of  London  [Tait] 
very  strong,  I  trying  to  discipline  myself,  but  feeling  the 
*  affront,'  as  dear  Randall  said, 

November  28. — Henley.  Service  in  parish  church  ;  and 
then   consecrated   the   additional  burial-ground  and  chapel. 


268  LIFE   OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.         chap.  ix. 

Preached  on  '  I  am  the  Resurrection  and  the  Life/  with  much 
interest  ;  many  in  tears.  Then  back  to  Rectory,  and  by  rail 
to  Windsor,  to  House  of  Mercy,  and  confirmed  in  the  Chapel. 
Then  to  Deanery.  Dean  of  St.  Paul's,  General  Seymour 
dined,  Mrs.  Wellesley  to  Castle.  Dean  of  St.  Paul's  to  bed. 
Much  talk  with  Dean  of  Windsor.  He  talked  with  great 
reserve  about  the  late  appointments,  but  said,  '  The  Church 
does  not  know  what  it  owes  to  the  Queen.  Disraeli  has  been 
utterly  ignorant,  utterly  unprincipled  :  he  rode  the  Protestant 
horse  one  day ;  then  got  frightened  that  it  had  gone  too  far, 
and  was  injuring  the  county  elections,  so  he  went  right  round 
and  proposed  names  never  heard  of  Nothing  he  would  not 
have  done ;  but  throughout  he  was  most  hostile  to  you  ;  he 
alone  prevented  London  being  offered  to  you.  The  Queen 
looked  for  Tait,  but  would  have  agreed  to  you.' 

It  seems  evident  from  this  last  diary  entry,  that 
had  there  not  been  a  strong  personal  antagonistic 
feeling  on  the  part  of  Mr.  Disraeli  towards  the  Bishop, 
the  See  of  London,  which  nearly  all  the  newspapers 
had  assigned  to  him,  would  have  been  offered. 
Mr.  Disraeli  had  good  grounds  for  this  personal 
antagonism  :  the  part  the  Bishop  had  taken  in  con- 
nection with  Mr.  Gladstone's  candidature  for  the 
University  of  Oxford  would  sufficiently  account  for 
this  feeling.  Yet  Mr.  Disraeli's  letters  to  the  Bishop 
already  quoted  seem  to  show  that  on  public  grounds 
Mr.  Disraeli  would  have  recognised  the  fact  that 
Bishop  Wilberforce  was  pre-eminently  the  man  best 
fitted  for  the  See  of  London.  From  papers  extant  it 
is  abundantly  clear  that  it  was  not  on  any  personal 
grounds  that  Mr.  Disraeli  did  not  name  the  Bishop 
for  London.  Mr.  Disraeli  was  before  all  things  a 
politician.  The  general  election  on  which  his  Ministry 
depended  was  in  progress ;  Bishop  Wilberforce  was 
represented  to  him  by  one  who  knew  better  as  an 
extreme    High     Churchman,    whose    appointment    to 


1 868.     THE  DEAN  OF   WINDSORS  CONVERSATION.     269 

London  would  estrange  many  votes  from  the  Con- 
servative party,  and  this  fear  was,  it  is  clear,  worked 
on  by  others  from  motives  which  it  is  hard  to  believe 
to  have  been  wholly  disinterested. 

The  conversation  with  Dean  Wellesley  thus  con- 
tinues : — 

'  Disraeli    recommended   for   Canterbury  !  !  !  —  the 

Queen  would  not  have  him  ;  then  Disraeli  agreed  most  re- 
luctantly and  with  passion  to  Tait.  Disraeli  then  proposed 
Wordsworth  for  London.  The  Queen  objected  strongly ;  no 
experience ;  passing  over  bishops,  &c. ;  then  she  suggested 
Jackson,  and  two  others,  not  you,  because  of  Disraeli's 
expressed  hostility,  and  Disraeli  chose  Jackson. 

*  *  *  *  *  * 

'  How  can  have  got  that  secret  understanding  with 

Disraeli }  You  are  surrounded  by  false  double-dealing  men. 
Disraeli  opposed  Leighton  with  all  his  strength  on  every  sepa- 
rate occasion.  The  Queen  would  have  greatly  liked  him,  but 
Disraeli  would  not  hear  of  him.  You  cannot  conceive  the 
appointments  he  proposed  and  retracted  or  was  overruled  ; 
he  pressed  Champneys  for  Peterborough  ;  he  had  no  other 
thought  than  the  votes  of  the  moment ;  he  showed  an  igno- 
rance about  all  Church  matters,  men,  opinions,  that  was 
astonishing,  making  propositions  one  way  and  the  other, 
riding  the  Protestant  horse  to  gain  the  boroughs,  and  then, 
when  he  thought  he  had  gone  so  far  as  to  endanger  the  coun- 
ties, turning  round  and  appointing  Bright  and  Gregory ; 
thoroughly  unprincipled  fellow.  I  trust  we  may  never  have 
such  a  man  again.' 

The  next  two  letters  refer  to  the  recent  appoint- 
ments : — 

The  13  is  hop  of  Oxford  lo  Sh'-  Charles  Anderson. 

November  16,  1868. 

My  dearest  Anderson, — I  very  much  enjoyed  your  letter 
and  the  account  of  the  ploughing  match,  I  hear  from  every- 
one that  you  arc  the  most  popular  man  in  Lincolnshire.     So 


270  LIFE  OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.        chap.  ix. 

Disraeli  has  done  exactly  as  I  expected  with  his  Church 
preferments.  The  appointment  of  Canterbury  was,  I  believe, 
pressed  on  him  by  the  Queen.  But  Lincoln  to  London  is 
all  his  own  to  please  the  '  Record.'  ^  Wordsworth,  I  have  no 
doubt,  will  do  exceedingly  well.  Tait  was  quite  heartily  warm 
about  my  succeeding  him.  I  am  afraid  my  dear  children  and 
friends  will  be  disappointed.  For  myself,  I  really  thank  God  ; 
it  very  little  disturbs  me.  I  in  my  reason  apprehend  that  by 
the  common  rule  in  such  matters  I  had  no  right  to  be  so  treated  ; 
but  I  am  really  thankful  in  feeling  so  cool  about  it.  I  am  going 
down  now  as  I  write  to  consecrate  a  httle  church  close  to 
Ashdown,  and  on  Wednesday  I  mean  to  go  through  London 
to  Lord  Salisbury's  for  a  few  days.  I  am  ever  your  affec- 
tionate old  friend,  e    Qxom 

Novenihcv  20. — (Hatfield.)  Wrote  a  great  deal.  Then 
Confirmation.  Rode  with  Lord  Salisbury.  His  high-minded 
views.  He  said  he  would  not  oppose  Gladstone  as  a  Minister, 
but  only  on  any  particular  measure  on  which  he  differed. 

Writing  from  Danbury,  where  the  Bishop  was  the 
guest  of  his  old  friend  the  Bishop  of  Rochester,  a  few 
days  later,  he  refers,  among  other  things,  to  the  visit 
he  had  paid  at  Hatfield. 

The  Bishop  of  Oxford  to  Sir  Charles  Anderson. 

Danbury,  November  26,  1868. 

My  dearest  Anderson, — Many  thanks  for  your  letter. 
You  will  have  seen  Gladstone's  failure.^  I  am  sony  for  it. 
Of  course  it  makes  no  real  difference  whatever  in  the  result, 
but  it  aggravates  division  where  I  want  to  see  concord  ;  for  I 
have  infinitely  more  sympathy  (in  spite  of  difference  as  to  the 
Irish  Church")  with  his  views  concerning  the  Church  than  with 
those  of  the  snuffling  Puritan  clique  which  believes  only  in  the 

"  In  a  leading  article  published  in  August,  the  A'cw/v/made  the  extraordinaiy 
statement  that  Mr.  Disraeli  was  'only  the  tool  of  the  Bishop  of  Oxford,  a  prelate 
who  knows  less  of  the  real  state  of  the  Church  of  England  than  almost  any  other 
prelate  on  the  bench,  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  only  excepted.' 

'  For  South- West  Lancashire. 


THE  BISHOP  AT  HATFIELD. 


271 


Hon  and  the  unicorn,  and  anoints  them  with  sour  stuff.  I 
think  we  are  in  a  bad  way.     I  am  very  glad  to  have  Ernest 

and  F here :  I   do  not  know  whether  you  heard  of  his 

accident  last  Friday.  It  was  touch  and  go.  For  another 
half-inch  would  have  killed  him  on  the  spot.  As  it  is  he  is 
quite  crippled  for  the  time.^  This  is  a  very  nice  place;  grand 
old  oaks  of  an  immeasurable  age.  Lewis  Owen  is  with  us, 
having  come  to  vote  to-morrow  for  the  Tory  candidates.  I 
particularly  enjoyed  my  Hatfield  visit.  The  house  is  perfect, 
and  the  park  very  striking  of  its  kind.  But  the  great  pleasure 
was  the  inmates,  as  hearty  and  kind  as  possible,  and  he  full 
of  high  patriotic  views.  Bob  Lowe  was  with  us  two  days, 
and  it  was  enough  to  make  the  flesh  creep  to  hear  his 
prognostications  for  the  future  of  England.  My  best  love  to 
all  yours.     I  am,  my  dearest  Anderson,  your  most  affectionate 

S.  OXON. 

December  11,  the  Bishop  was  again  the  guest  of 
Lord  Salisbury  at  Hatfield,  where  he  met  Mr.  Glad- 
stone. The  diary  for  the  day  thus  mentions  Mr. 
Gladstone  : — 

Gladstone  as  ever ;  great,  earnest,  and  honest ;  as  unlike 
the  tricky  Disraeli  as  possible. 

December  12. — Morning  walk  with  Gladstone,  Card  well, 
and  Salisbury.  Gladstone  how  struck  with  Salisbury : 
'  Never  saw  a  more  perfect  host.'  On  to  Reading,  where 
S  P.G.  meeting,  and  thence  to  Englefield. 

The  same  day  the  Bishop  writes  to  his  son  Ernest : — 

Hatfield,  Dec.  12,  r868. 

I  have  very  much  enjoyed  meeting  Gladstone.  He  is  so 
delightfully  true  and  the  same  ;  just  as  full  of  interest  in  every 
good  thing  of  every  kind,  and  so  exactly  the  opposite  of  the 
mystery  man  ....  When  people  talk  of  Gladstone  going  mad, 
they  do  not  take  into  account  the  wonderful  elasticity  of  his 

'  A  bough  of  a  tree  fell  on  his  back. 


272  LIFE  OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.         chap.  ix. 

mind  and  the  variety  of  his  interests.  Now,  this  morning  (I 
am  writing  in  the  train  on  my  way  to  London),  after  break- 
fast, he  and  SaHsbury  and  I  and  Cardwell  had  a  walk  round 
this  beautiful  park,  and  he  was  just  as  much  interested  in  the 
size  of  the  oaks,  their  probable  age,  &c.,  as  if  no  care  of  state 
ever  pressed  upon  him.  This  is  his  safeguard,  joined  to  entire 
rectitude  of  purpose  and  clearness  of  view.  He  is  now 
writing  opposite  to  me  in  the  railway  carriage,  on  his  way  to 
Windsor  Castle. 

The  next  letter  also  gives  an  account  of  the  Hat- 
field visit  : — 

The  Bishop  of  Oxford  to  Sir  Charles  Anderson. 

Englefield  House,  December  15. 

I  enjoyed  meeting  Gladstone  again  very  much.  In 
presence  he  always  impresses  me,  as  I  know  he  does  you, 
with  the  sense  of  his  perfect  honesty  and  noble  principles.  I 
never  saw  him  pleasanter,  calmer,  or  more  ready  to  enter 
freely  into  everything.  We,  i.e.  he,  Cardwell,  Lord  Salisbury, 
and  myself,  had  a  walk  about  the  park,  and  he  took  as  much 
interest  in  the  trees  as  if  he  had  nothing  else  to  think  about. 
He  remarked  to  me  on  the  great  power  of  charming  and 
pleasant  host-ing  possessed  by  Salisbury.  All  that  he  did  say 
on  public  affairs  was  what  we  could  wish,  barring  the  one 
subject  of  the  Irish  Church.  I  think  that  he  will  hold  his 
own.  I  do  not  believe  the  excitement  and  temper,  &c.  &c., 
which  people  talk  about.  He  is  far  more  in  earnest  than 
most  people,  and  therefore  they  revenge  themselves  by  saying 
that  he  loses  his  temper.  I  am  going  to-morrow  to  London 
to  receive  the  freedom  of  the  Salters'  Company,  a  very  grand 
affair,  and  I  go  on  to  Cuddesdon  for  the  Ordination.  I  am 
most  truly,  your  very  affectionate,  c;   n  •     - 

This  mention  of  the  Salters'  Company  recalls  the 
following  anecdote.  At  the  time  when  Miss  Burdett- 
Coutts  was  much  occupied  about  the  Columbia  market, 
she  happened  to  be  driving  the  Bishop  into  the  City  ;  in 


1868.  A   DRV  SALTER. 


2/3 


the  course  of  the  drive  the  conversation  turned  on  the 
origin  of  the  designations  of  the  various  City  com- 
panies, '  I  daresay,  Bishop,'  Miss  Coutts  said,  'you 
do  not  know  the  meaning  of  a  Dry  Salter  ? '  '  Oh  yes,' 
was  the  ready  answer,  '  I  do.     Tate  and  Brady.' 


VOL.  III. 


2  74  Z//^^  OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.         chap,  x. 


CHAPTER   X. 

(1868-1869.) 

THE  IRISH  CHURCH— CONSERVATIVE  POLICY — THE  BISHOP  IN  1868 — THE 
GENERAL  ELECTION — THE  BISHOP'S  ADVICE  AFTER  THE  ELECTIONS  — 
LETTER  TO  ARCHBISHOP  TRENCH — MEETINGS  OF  THE  BISHOPS— IMPORTANT 
DISCUSSION — THE  BILL  IN  THE  HOUSE  OF  LORDS— THE  BISHOP'S  SPEECH — 
LETTER  TO  MR.  MAJENDIE — EXPLANATION  AND  VINDICATION  OF  ATTITUDE 
TOWARDS   THE   MEASURE. 

For  many  years  the  question  of  the  Irish  Church  had 
occupied  the  attention  of  most  thoughtful  men.  It 
had  been  evident  that  this  was  a  matter  the  settlement 
of  which  could  not  long  be  delayed.  It  is  therefore 
not  surprising  to  find  that  Mr.  Disraeli,  who,  on  the 
resignation  of  Lord  Derby  in  February  1868,  became 
Prime  Minister,  should  have  turned  his  attention  to 
this  important  and  pressing  matter,  rendered,  as  it 
was,  more  pressing  on  account  of  the  P"enian  con- 
spiracy and  the  general  tone  of  discontent  in  that 
country.  On  April  18,  1868,  Archbishop  Trench 
writes  to  the  Bishop,  saying  : — 

I  have  no  doubt  but  that  the  outline  of  the  policy  which 
-presents  itself  most  to  thoughtful  Churchmen  here  is,  not  to 
accept  what  evidently  will  be  Disraeli's  proposal,  namely  a 
starved  and  cut  down  Establishment,  which  will  leave  all 
causes  of  irritation  existing  still,  which  will  entail  on  us  all 
the  weaknesses  of  an  Establishment  while  giving  us  none  of 
the  compensating  advantages,^  and  which,  being  a  compromise 
.resting  on  no  intelligible  principle,  will  inevitably  cease   to 

'  Tlie  Royal  Commission  on  the  Irish  Church  had  recommended  a  reduction 
ol  the  Irish  Episcopate. 


1 868.  THE  SUSPENSORY  BILL. 


275 


exist  after  a  few  years  of  weakness,  poverty,  and  discredit. 
If  you  ask  the  policy  which  recommends  itself  here  to  the 
best  and  most  earnest  Churchmen — it  is,  first,  to  fight  for 
everything  which  we  possess,  as  believing  it  rightfully  ours  ; 
recognising,  of  course,  the  right  of  Parliament  to  redistribute 
within  the  Chiwch  its  revenues  according  to  the  changed 
necessities  of  the  present  time.  If  this  battle  is  lost,  then, 
totally  rejecting  the  process  of  gradual  starvation  to  which 
Disraeli  would  submit  us,  to  go  in  for  instant  death  at  the 
hands  of  Gladstone. 

This  letter  was  written  after  Mr.  Gladstone  had 
given  notice  of  his  resolutions  on  the  Irish  Church  and 
after  Lord  Stanley's  proposed  amendment. 

Mr.  Gladstone,  having  carried  his  resolutions, 
brought  in  a  Suspensory  Bill,  which,  though  carried  in 
the  House  of  Commons,  was  thrown  out  by  a  large 
majority  in  the  House  of  Lords.  When  the  proposal 
for  the  Disestablishment  of  the  Irish  Church  was  first 
made,  the  Bishop's  course  and  duty  appeared  to  him 
plain  :  it  was  simply,  with  all  his  might,  to  resist  the 
proposal.  He  therefore  heartily  co-operated  with  others, 
and,  both  in  the  great  meeting  which  was  held  in  St. 
James's  Hall,  and  in  his  place  in  Parliament,  did  his 
best  to  influence  the  public  mind  against  it.  He  voted 
and  spoke  against  the  Suspensory  Bill  and  entirely 
concurred  in  the  determination  of  yielding  nothing 
until  the  constituencies  had  been  appealed  to  upon  the 
whole  question. 

With  reference  to  the  speech  in  St.  James's  Hall,  the 
late  Mr.  Philip  Cazenove  used  to  describe  the  con- 
ditions under  which  it  had  been  composed. 

Mr.  Cazenove  had  been  present  at  the  luncheon 
which  followed  the  opening  of  St.  John's,  Kennington, 
and  the  Bishop  had  been  as  usual  the  life  of  the 
company,  speaking  up  to  the  last  moment  with  his 
customary  energy  and  eloquence. 

T  2 


2  76  LIFE   OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.  chap.  x. 

The  time  having  arrived  for  leaving  for  St.  James's 
Hall,  Mr.  Cazenove  offered  the  Bishop  a  seat  in  his 
carriage,  which  was  accepted.  The  Bishop  then  ex- 
plained that  as  he  had  had  no  time  to  think  about  his 
impending  speech,  he  should  be  glad  to  be  allowed  not 
to  talk.  He  leant  back  in  the  carriage,  closed  his  eyes, 
and  in  the  course  of  twenty  minutes  had  thought  out 
what,  in  the  opinion  of  competent  judges,  was  the  most 
eloquent  and  forcible  of  many  remarkable  speeches 
which  signalised  a  memorable  occasion. 

The  General  Election  was  held  in  November,  and 
on  the  20th  the  returns  were  so  far  complete  as  to 
enable  the  Bishop  to  write  to  Archbishop  Trench 
that : — 

The  returns  to  the  House  of  Commons  leave  no  doubt  of 
the  answer  of  the  country  to  Gladstone's  appeal.  In  a  {q\^ 
weeks  he  will  be  in  office,  at  the  head  of  a  majority  of  some- 
thing like  a  hundred  elected  on  the  distinct  issue  of  Gladstone 
and  the  Irish  Church.  The  time  seems,  therefore,  now  abso- 
lutely come  as  to  which  we  have  so  often  spoken,  when  you 
and  we  should  consider  whether  any  and  what  compromise 
is  possible.  For  the  nation  has  practically  decided  on  the 
main  proposition  and,  even  if  Parliamentary  tactics  could 
purchase  a  delay,  I  see  not  the  faintest  reason  to  suppose  they 
could  win  a  reversal  of  the  sentence,  whilst  that  delay  may 
commit  men  to  extreme  measures  and  rob  us  of  the  oppor- 
tunity of  saving  something  by  a  timely  surrender  of  what 
cannot  anyhow  be  kept. 

The  letter  then  goes  on  to  suggest  what  m.ight  be 
gained.  To  this  the  Archbishop  replied  that  he  was 
aware  that  the  battle  of  the  elections  had  gone  against 
them  and  that  he  regarded  establishment  as  hopelessly 
and  irrevocably  gone ;  but  he  dissented  from  the 
Bishop's  sketch  of  a  proposed  compromise  and  pleaded 
for  delay,  in  the  vain  hope,  as  it  afterwards  proved, 
that,  in  carrying  into  effect  the  details  of  the  Bill,  some 


1868.    OPPONENTS  NO  CLAIM  TO  BE  CONSIDERED.    277 

of  Mr.  Gladstone's  supporters,  although  they  might  vote 
with  him  for  the  second  reading,  yet  might  turn  against 
him  on  some  of  the  multifarious  details  which  would 
have  to  be  fought  in  committee ;  and  that  then,  to  get 
out  of  the  difficulty,  Mr.  Gladstone  would  offer  terms 
that  could  be  accepted.  Archbishop  Trench  failed  to 
perceive  that  the  Irish  Church  Bill  must  of  necessity  be 
framed  with  a  reference  to  those  who  supported  it  and 
not  to  those  who  opposed  it ;  and  therefore,  until  Mr. 
Gladstone  could  be  assured  that  those  who  had  pre- 
viously opposed  the  measure  had  signified  that,  since  the 
decision  of  the  nation,  they  had  changed  their  opinions 
it  was  impossible  for  him  to  regard  them  in  any  other 
light  than  as  declared  opponents  who  consequently  had 
no  claim  to  be  considered.  The  Bishop,  who  was  well 
aware  of  this,  then  wrote  a  letter  to  Archbishop 
Trench,  which  he  told  him  he  might  make  use  of  in 
any  private  way  he  liked.  That  the  Archbishop  freely 
availed  himself  of  this  permission  to  shov/  it  to  friends 
is  evident  by  the  much  worn  and  tattered  condition  of 
the  original. 

The  Bishop  of  Oxford  to  the  A  rchbishop  of  Diibliji. 

Train  to  Goodwood,  Dec.  30,  1868. 

My  dearest  Archbishop, — I  have  thought  much  and  long 
over  your  answer  to  my  last  letter,  and  the  conviction  deepens 
within  me  that  you  are  in  great  danger  of  letting  slip  past 
you  one  of  those  golden  opportunities  which,  when  they  are 
indeed  past,  never  return. 

You  say  '  that  the  time  for  offering  any  terms  of  com- 
promise is  not  come  :  that  it  will  be  well  to  let  Gladstone 
taste  the  various  difficulties  which  beset  the  carrying  out  of 
his  measure  ;  and  then,  when  he  has  experienced  their  weight, 
to  offer  him  terms.' 

Now,  this  would  be  wise  if  you  were  dealing  with  a  mi- 
nority, guided  by  a  master  of  selfish  cunning  and  unprincipled 


278  LIFE  OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.  chap.  x. 

trickery.  Doubtless  it  would  be  the  wise  way  to  meet  a  mere 
mystery-man  like  Disraeli,  who  was  trading  upon  the  prin- 
ciples and  ultimate  existence  of  an  honourable  minority  and 
had  no  real  principle,  but  was  ready  to  catch  at  any  cry  to 
gain  a  respite  from  defeat  and  was  ready,  in  order  to  avoid 
a  difficulty  he  could  not  meet,  to  sacrifice  any  man,  party, 
purpose,  principle,  or  Church  ; — it  would  doubtless  be  best  to 
let  HIM  entangle  himself  in  his  own  web,  and  then  make  his 
sacrifice  of  everything  for  which  he  had  professed  to  act  the 
price  of  his  extrication  from  his  trouble.  But  your  case  is 
altogether  different.  You  have  in  Gladstone  a  man  of  the 
highest  and  noblest  principle,  who  has  shown  unmistakably 
that  he  is  ready  to  sacrifice  every  personal  aim  for  what  he 
has  set  before  himself  as  a  high  object.  He  is  supported,  not 
by  a  minority  conscious  of  being  a  minority,  but  by  a  great 
and  confident  majority.  The  decision  of  the  constituencies 
seems  to  me  incapable  of  misapprehension  or  reversal.  Has 
there  ever  yet  been  any  measure,  however  opposed,  which  the 
English  people  have  been  unable  for  its  difficulty  to  carry 
through,  when  they  have  determined  to  do  so  .<*  Look  at 
Negro  Slavery,  Protection,  Parliamentary  Reform,  and  a  hun- 
dred other  questions.  They  have  resolved  to  carry  your 
Disestablishment,  and  they  know  that  they  can  and  will  carry 
it.  Now,  what  can  be  gained  by  opposing  and  chafing  such 
a  body  .''  You  may  frighten  away  a  fox  by  an  outcry  ;  but 
you  only  wake  up  the  strength  and  the  fury  of  the  lion.  For 
reasons  of  the  highest  patriotism  and  not  because  they  dis- 
trust their  own  strength,  Gladstone  and  his  party,  from  his 
influence,  might  now,  to  prevent  the  bitterness  sure  to  be  bred 
by  a  long  struggle,  yield  all  they  can  yield  consistently  with 
carrying  what  they  believe  justice  and  imperial  interests  to 
require.  But  every  day's  resistance  makes  it  an  object  of  less 
importance  to  purchase  the  remission  of  this  resistance, 
because  the  evil  will  have  been  done  to  prevent  which  alone, 
and  not  from  doubting  their  power,  they  would  earlier  have 
consented  to  buy  it  off.  The  multiplication  of  teasing  diffi- 
culties in  detail,  where  a  majority  guided  by  a  thoroughly 
honest  leader  are  convinced  as  to  the  principle,  can  lead  only 
to  the  settlement  being  made  at  last  by  the  sharpness  and 


1868.  DISESTABLISHMENT  DETERMINED.  279 

violence  of  the  sword,  instead  of,  as  once  it  might  have  been, 
its  being  peacefully  adjusted. 

The  matter  which  seems  to  me  determined  is  Disestablish- 
ment. Disendowment  is  far  more  a  question  of  degree.  Now, 
my  own  abstract  view  is  wholly  unaltered.  I  do  not  expect 
that  your  Disestablishment  will  remove  any  Irish  dissatisfac- 
tion. I  believe  that  it  will  be  an  injury  to  the  Church  and  a 
far  greater  injury  to  the  State.  If  I  thought  it  possible  to 
resist  it  successfully  I  would  resist  it  still.  But  I  think  it  im- 
possible, and  I  never  have  met  in  the  last  two  months  any 
man  of  thought  and  capacity  who  appeared  to  me  honestly 
to  believe  it  to  be  possible.  Some  believe  the  measure  may 
be  resisted  a  little  shorter,  some  a  little  longer  time  ;  but  all 
are  secretly  convinced  or  are  ready  openly  to  avow  their 
opinion  that  it  is  a  question  practically  settled.  Wholly  un- 
principled men  like  Disraeli  are  content  to  use  religion,  as  they 
would  any  other  precious  thing,  as  an  instrument  of  obtaining 
ever  so  short  a  tenure  of  place  at  the  cost  of  ever  so  entire  a 
sacrifice  of  that  which  they  so  use.  But  suppose,  to  take  the 
most  extreme  case,  that  these  tortuous  and  crooked  devices 
brought  Disraeli  again  into  power,  what  would  you  gain  }  His 
whole  idea  is  to  use  the  Church  to  keep  himself  in  office.  Look 
at  his  whole  management  of  these  last  elections  and  you 
will  see  that  he  has  tried  to  use  the  No-Popery  cry  as  a  miser- 
able party  instrument,  and  has  let  it  be  directed  against  all 
the  higher  teaching  and  all  the  liberties  of  the  Church  of 
England,  and  all  his  own  convictions,  if  he  has  any  except 
those  which  centre  in  Benjamin  Disraeli.  If,  then,  he  came 
into  power,  his  first  idea  would  be  to  get  popularity  by  cutting 
down  your  Sees  and  reducing  you  to  the  lowest  conceivable 
spiritual  level,  that  he  might  gain  favour  with  one  party  by 
your  reduction,  and  with  the  other  by  maintaining  an  Estab- 
lishment ;  whilst  if  this  death  by  starvation  was  not,  on  trial, 
quick  enough  for  his  purpose,  he  would  at  once  strangle  you 
out  of  hand. 

I  therefore  venture  once  more  to  implore  you  to  consider 
whether  the  time  is  not  come  for  you  to  say,  '  The  nation  has 
decided  against  our  Establishment  and  wc  bow  to  its  decision. 
The  question  of  what  part  of  our  income  is  to  be  left  us,  and 


2  So  LIFE   OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.  chap.  x. 

on  what  tenure  and  conditions  it  is  to  be  held,  remains  con- 
fessedly open.  We  are  ready  to  enter  on  it,  and  if  what  we 
must  deem  still  our  just  rights  are  provided  for  and  we  are 
honourably  and  wisely  started  on  our  new  career  we  shall  do 
our  best  to  aid  in  the  settlement  of  a  very  difficult  matter.'  / 
think  you  might  claim  Churches,  Glebe  Houses,  very  many 
Glebes,  all  post-Reformation  grants  ;  and  I  should  earnestly 
desire  the  Knight  of  Kerry's  proposal  to  be  applied  to  the  rest 
of  the  property.  But  I  feel  sure  you  MUST  claim  the  follow- 
ing : — (i)  Entire  freedom  from  State  interference.  (2)  Your 
being  constituted  a  corporation  capable  of  self-government  and 
of  holding  property.  (3)  That  the  satisfaction-money  for  vested 
rights  should  be  in  a  common  fund  under  common  manage- 
ment, giving  rights  against  that  common  fund  to  individuals 
only  on  condition  of  their  discharging,  to  the  satisfaction  of 
the  authorities  of  the  nev/  body,  either  {a)  the  duties  in  regard 
to  the  performance  of  which  the  vested  interests  arise,  or  {b) 
duties  substituted  for  them  with  tlie  assent  of  the  new  autho- 
rities of  your  body. 

It  is  with  me  a  question  whether  (4)  it  should  be  made  a 
condition  that  you  are  in  full  communion  with  the  English 
Reformed  Church. 

I  should  have  great  hopes,  knowing  the  nobleness  of  him 
with  whom  as  chief  you  have  to  deal,  of  a  tolerably  satisfactory 
result  following  iinmcdiate  action  on  your  parts  in  this  direction. 
I  cannot  too  earnestly  press  on  you  my  own  conviction  that 
delay  and  vexatious  resistance  will  bring  the  question  into  a 
state  in  which  no  such  results  can  be  hoped  for.  If  you  excite 
passion,  resentment,  and  growing  indignation  amongst  the 
party  opposed  to  you,  its  leader  will  not  be  able  to  help  you, 
whilst  yoicr  leader  has  no  higher  idea  than  to  prolong  your  life 
on  the  lowest  possible  scale  of  dependent  existence,  and  to 
slay  you  the  first  hour  it  seems  for  his  advantage  to  break 
all  his  own  professions  and  sacrifice  your  being.  I  am,  ever, 
affectionately  yours,  °  q   o  ^     - 

This  semi-public  letter  shows  that  the  Bishop  had 
made  up  his  mind  as  to  the  fruitlessness  of  fighting  a 
hopeless  battle  to  its  bitter  end.     In  his  speech  in  the 


1 868.  THE  DECISION  OF  THE   NATION.  28 1 

House  of  Lords  against  the  Suspensory  Bill,  he  had 
argued  that  as  a  condition  precedent  to  Disestablishment 
the  nation  ought  to  have  declared  in  favour  of  such 
a  course.  This  condition  was  now  fulfilled  :  the  nation 
had  given  its  verdict.  The  issue  had  been  fairly  placed 
before  it  both  by  the  Conservatives  and  the  Liberals. 
Every  hustings  had  rung  with  the  subject.  The  Conser- 
vative party  had  gone  to  the  contest  with  the  *  Church 
in  danger'  as  their  election  cry,  and  they  had  been 
defeated  by  a  majority  of  over  100  votes,  and  this  not 
by  the  old  constituencies,  but  by  the  new,  who  were 
called  into  being  by  themselves,  and  whose  verdict  the 
Conservative  Government  may  fairly  be  said  to  have 
accepted  by  resigning  office  without  meeting  Parlia- 
ment. 

The  course  the  Bishop  took  on  this  matter  was 
identical  with  that  taken  by  the  Duke  of  Wellington 
on  the  Romish  disabilities  in  1829,  by  Sir  Robert  Peel 
in  1833,  and  by  the  Conservative  party  in  1867  on  the 
Reform  Bill ;  all  of  whom  accepted  the  decision  of  the 
nation  on  the  principle  which  was  at  stake  as  final  and 
irreversible,  and  did  their  best  and  utmost  to  minimise 
any  excess  in  carrying  into  effect  the  verdict  which  they 
accepted.  The  terms  the  Bishop  tried  to  induce  the 
Irish  Episcopate  to  accept  had  reference  to  Disendow- 
ment  not  Disestablishment.  He  could  not  and  did  not 
argue  that  clerical  establishment  was  a  vital  and  funda- 
mental principle  :  the  line  he  took  even  in  1853  on  the 
Canada  Clergy  Reserves  -  is  very  significant.  What 
he  did  hold  and  what  he  did  fight  for  to  the  very  end 
was,  that  endowments  once  given  to  the  Church  were 
the  property  of  the  Church  and  ought  not  to  be  alien- 
ated from  that  Church  for  any  purpose  whatever.  This 
was  a  principle,  and  where  a  principle  was  at  stake, 

*  Vol.  ii.  chap.  5. 


282  LIFE   OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.  chap.  x. 

which  the  Bishop  held  as  such,  he  never  in  all  his 
public  career  yielded  one  jot  or  attempted  to  com- 
promise ;  the  world  will  not  forget  his  opposition  to  the 
Divorce  Act,^  an  instance  of  fighting  a  matter  out  up 
to  the  last  ditch.  It  must  not,  however,  be  imagined 
that  the  Bishop  was  in  the  least  degree  converted:  his 
opinions  as  to  Disestablishment  were  unchanged,  but 
he  accepted  the  position  and  endeavoured  to  induce 
the  Irish  Church  to  settle  the  whole  question  in  a 
generous  and  friendly  manner  with  Mr.  Gladstone. 

Among  his  Episcopal  brethren  Bishop  Wilberforce 
was  not  alone  in  regarding  the  question  of  Dis- 
establishment as  settled.  The  Bishop  of  Gloucester 
and  Bristol  in  a  speech  at  Bristol  publicly  declared  his 
adoption  of  this  view,  and  from  the  report  of  the 
private  discussions  held  by  the  Bishops  which  follows 
it  will  be  seen  that  many  both  of  the  English  and 
Irish  Episcopate  were  in  favour  of  recognising  Dis- 
establishment as  inevitable  and  endeavouring  to  make 
the  best  terms  they  could  as  to  Disendowment, 

One  other  matter  deserves  mention  as  affording 
proof  that  the  Bishop  of  Peterborough  (Dr.  Magee) 
who  had  only  just  come  to  England  and  who  was 
above  all  men  eminently  capable  of  forming  a  correct 
judgment  on  the  matter  from  an  Irish  point  of  view 
took  the  same  view  as  Bishop  Wilberforce. 

In  January  Bishop  Wilberforce  wrote  and  corrected 
for  press  a  pamphlet  which  was  called  the  '  Answer  of 
the  Constituencies  ; '  it  was  in  the  form  of  a  letter  to 
Lord  Lyttelton  which  was  in  fact  an  amplification  of 
the  views  enunciated  in  the  already  quoted  letter  to  the 
Archbishop  of  Dublin.  This  pamphlet  the  Bishop  sent 
to  the  Bishop  of  Peterborough,  with  a  request  that  he 
would  advise  as  to  publication.     The  Bishop  of  Peter- 

^  Vol.  ii.  chap.  9. 


1869.  A  HOPELESS  CONTEST.  283 

borough  was  against  publication,  but  said  :  'In  all  you 
say  /  77tost  thoroiighly  concur.  I  have  been  saying  the 
same  for  the  last  six  months,  and  urging  upon  all  whom 
I  could  in  any  way  influence  that  the  Irish  Church 
has  everything  to  lose  and  nothing  to  gain  by  protract- 
ing a  hopeless  contest/  Remarkable  words,  when  it  is 
remembered  that  when  the  Bill  came  on  for  second 
reading  in  the  House  of  Lords,  Bishop  Magee  opposed 
it  in  a  speech  memorable  for  its  eloquent  denunciation 
of  the  principles  of  the  measure.  Mr.  Gladstone,  who 
also  saw  the  pamphlet;  advised  against  its  publication, 
on  the  ground  that  it  was  too  much  to  put  on  the 
Bishop  individually,  *  thus  to  step  out  in  front  of  the 
ranks  and  decide  the  matter  by  single  combat.' 

It  was  from  no  timidity,  however,  that  the  non- 
publication  was  decided  on  but  simply  from  the  fear  of 
a  rupture  of  the  friendship  which  had  existed  for  so 
many  years  between  the  Bishop  and  the  Archbishop  of 
Dublin.  Writing  to  Lord  Lyttelton  on  January  20  the 
Bishop  says  : — 

A  letter  received  this  morning  from  the  Archbishop  of 
Dublin  determines  me  not,  under  present  circumstances,  to 
publish  my  letter.  The  Archbishop  eagerly  deprecates  my 
doing  so,  as  an  act  of  the  most  injurious  hostility,  which  would 
stir  up  widespread  wrath,  and  require  probably  Jiis  answering 
me  in  a  tone  which  will  make  all  future  negotiations  more 
difficult. 

The  private  debates  which  took  place  amongst  the 
Bishops  on  this  subject  are  so  remarkable  that  they 
are  quoted  in  full  from  the  Bishop's  notes  made  at 
the  time.  There  were  two  meetings  :  the  first  on 
February  10,  the  second  on  May  6.  At  the  first  meet- 
ing there  were  present  the  Archbishops  of  Canterbury, 
York,  Armagh,  and  Dublin,  the  Bishops  of  London, 
Durham,  St.  David's,  Oxford,  Llandaff,  Bangor,  Nor- 


2  84  LIFE  OF  BISHOP   WILBERFORCE.  chap.  x. 

wich,  Gloucester  and  Bristol,  Ely,  Chester,  Rochester, 
Lichfield,  Hereford,  Peterborough,  Meath,  Limerick, 
and  Derry. 

The  Archbishop  of  Dublin  opened  the  discussion  by 
stating  that  there  had  been  no  direct  ofter  made  by  Mr. 
Gladstone — but  communications  had  been  made  tending  to 
express  a  wish  that  we  should  destroy  ourselves.  This  would 
(i)  have  forfeited  all  confidence  of  laity  and  clergy.  (2)  The 
Government  were  so  tied  up  that  it  could  offer  little — so  little 
that  he  thought  that  the  chances  of  battle  were  better,  and 
(3)  if  we  had  dealt  we  should  have  been  unable  to  oppose 
hereafter.  Not  so  much  a  no7i  vohumis  as  a  non  possiivms, 
for  we  could  not  have  carried  our  own  people  ;  we  are  not  in 
the  condition  of  a  commander-in-chief  who  could  capitulate 
if  he  saw  fit. 

Bishop  of  Peterborough  said  he  spoke  more  from  the  Irish 
point  of  view  than  from  the  English,  and  was  therefore 
exposed  to  be  corrected  from  both  sides.  He  felt  the  all  but 
impossibility  of  the  Irish  Bishops  coming  forward  to  negotiate, 
for  {a)  they  would  be  repudiated  ;  {b)  the  offer  of  negotiations 
would  be  dangerous,  for  that  would  be  seized  on,  and  perhaps 
the  concessions  for  which  they  negotiated  would  be  lost.  In 
his  opinion  the  Irish  Church  should  make  up  their  minds  to 
grant  what  IS  lost.  Suppose  there  is  a  long  struggle  .■*  suppose 
the  Bill  falls  and  the  Ministry  with  it }  The  result  would  be 
that  a  weak  Government  of  friends  would  come  in  who  would 
sacrifice  all ;  they  would  act  on  the  Report  of  the  Commission  ; 
a  change  of  Ministry  would  do  no  good. 

The  question  really  is,  would  it  be  possible  to  get  from 
the  Government  by  friendly  acquiescence  more  than  by  a 
struggle  .''  He  saw  the  danger  of  dragging  the  Irish  Church 
through  the  mud  in  political  strife.  .  .  .  Though  he  felt  in- 
tensely the  impossibility  of  the  Irish  bishops  coming  forward, 
yet,  he  thought  they  ought  to  instruct  us  (the  English  bishops) 
on  their  decision  of  what  they  wish  us  to  do  ;  what  terms 
they  would  accept ;  what  they  wish  us  to  fight  for.  Could 
not  they  obtain  from  the  Government  an  answer  through 
some  one  man  of  what  they  would  yield,  if  the  Irish  Church 


1869.  ENDOWMENTS   THE   ONLY  FIGHT.  285 

yielded  the  Establishment  ?  In  conclusion,  he  said,  he 
thought  the  time  was  come  when  the  Irish  Church  could  get 
more  by  compromise  than  by  fight. 

Bishop  of  Limerick  :  *  For  myself,  I  entertain  no  idea  of 
fighting  out  to  the  last,  and  admit  the  conclusion  as  inevit- 
able ;  still  I  do  not  agree  with  the  last  speaker.  Many  who 
believe  the  fate  of  the  Irish  Church  irreversible,  would  agree 
that  the  time  was  not  yet  come.  I  declare  my  belief  that  the 
fate  of  the  Church  as  an  establishment  is  sealed,  and  recon- 
struction is  all  that  is  before  us.  If  we  now  take  a  low  view, 
the  laity  and  clergy  would  say,  if  you  fail  in  the  day  of  trial 
we  will  not  help  you  in  reconstruction.  We  have  now  called 
in  the  laity,  and  I  believe  they  are  going  to  answer.  I,  for  one, 
have  no  intention  of  fighting  out  to  the  bitter  end,  or  placing 
the  interest  of  the  Church  on  the  issue  of  a  political  contest.' 

Bishop  of  Gloucester  :  '  Mr.  Gladstone  has  pointed  out 
that  it  is  not  what  he  wishes,  but  what  he  may  be  able  to  do, 
that  must  finally  govern  him  in  this  matter.' 

Bishop  of  Meath  :  '  We  are  in  the  course  of  obtaining 
from  our  laity  materials  for  giving  jy;//  a  policy.  We  cannot 
take  upon  ourselves  to  represent  the  Church  in  Ireland  ;  for 
if  we  took  a  false  step  it  would  make  us  unable  to  recon- 
struct. As  soon  as  we  are  in  a  position  to  state  the  mind  of 
the  Church  in  Ireland  we  will  give  it.  There  has  been  such  a 
person  as  the  Bishop  of  Peterborough  alluded  to,  and  then 
the  Prime  Minister  maintained  an  absolute  reticence  as  to 
the  Government  plan.  He,  Archdeacon  Stopford,  was  not 
treated  with  full  fairness.' 

Bishop  of  Ely  said,  he  thought  it  was  very  important 
not  to  leave  the  whole  decision  to  the  Irish  bishops,  it  was 
very  desirable  that  we  should  all  act  together.  He  was  more 
ready  to  yield  as  a  Churchman  than  as  a  member  of  the 
State  ;  as  a  Churchman  he  would  surrender,  but  the  thought 
that  there  might  be  national  guilt  in  so  doing  alarmed  him. 

Archbishop  of  York  :  '  The  Irish  prelates  have  made  out 
their  case,  that  it  is  undesirable  for  them  to  negotiate.  The 
whole  question  of  P2stablishmcnt  is  settled,  and  the  only  fight 
is  for  endowments.'  He  thought  there  could  be  no  doubt  of 
the  wickedness  of  disendowing  ;  did  not  agree  with  those  who 


286  LIFE   OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.  chap.  x. 

blamed  the  Commission  ;  he  thought  we  ought  to  watch  the 
detail  and  save  all  we  could. 

Archbishop  of  Canterbury :  Wishes  '  to  know  whether 
Irish  laity  and  clergy  would  wish  to  elect  their  bishops.  The 
moderate  Liberal  party  want  to  get  as  little  of  disestablish- 
ment as  possible  ;  this  question  complicates  the  difficulty.' 

Bishop  of  Norwich  thinks  that  *  nothing  can  be  safely 
done  till  we  have  the  House  of  Commons'  judgment  on  the 
Government  plan  ;  we  must  have  this  first  and  the  judgment 
of  the  Irish  Church  upon  it.  It  is,  in  my  opinion,  far  more 
important  that  the  Irish  Church  should  be  free  from  State 
control  than  even  endowed.' 

Archbishop  of  York :  '  If  we  proclaimed  that  we  were 
beaten  we  should  probably  make  the  disendowment  more 
severe.' 

Archbishop  of  Armagh  :  '  I  do  not  admit  the  inevitable. 
The  people's  interest  must  not  be  sacrificed :  we,  having  our 
life  interests  preserved,  must  be  very  jealous  against  election 
of  bishops.  The  terms  which  the  Government  can  offer  are 
most  circumscribed.  The  Irish  people  used  to  mean  the 
Protestants,  now  it  means  the  Papists.  We  shall  not  do  much 
on  the  voluntary  system  :  the  Wesleyans  are  the  best  beggars, 
and  yet  they  cannot  support  themselves.' 

The  second  meeting  was  held  on  May  6,  when,  with 
the  exception  of  the  Bishops  of  Meathand  Bangor,  all 
those  already  mentioned  were  present,  and  in  addition 
the  Bishops  of  Ripon,  Worcester,  Lincoln,  and  Tuam. 
The  first  speaker  was  the  Archbishop  of  Armagh, 
who  said  : — 

*  The  Irish  Bishops,  with  one  exception,  will  not  consent 
to  the  second  reading  ;  they  will  offer  an  uncompromising 
resistance.  If  we  are  defeated  on  the  second  reading  we  will 
have  the  best  amendments  prepared  ;  this  course  is  what  the 
Church  Protestants  in  Ireland  universally  propose.  The 
Romish  hierarchy  are  strongly  in  favour  of  the  Bill ;  the 
laity  are  indifferent,  but  the  priests  can  easily  stir  them  up 
against  us.' 

Archbishop  of  Dublin  :  'The  position  of  the  Irish  Bishops 
is  different  to  that  of  the  English  bishops,  and  quite  unlike 


1869.  THE  BILL    OUGHT   TO  PASS.  287 

the  position  of  our  political  supporters.  The  Irish  bishops 
must  consider  what  is  the  effect  on  their  own  people.  I 
should  not  feel  it  any  laick  of  friendship  if  the  mass  of  others 
did  not  support  us.  I  think  the  Irish  bishops  must,  as  a  pro- 
test, vote  against  the  second  reading.' 

Bishop  of  Ripon  hopes  that  the  Bishops  will  come  to 
a  resolution  absolutely  to  reject  the  Bill  if  it  be  possible ;  he 
thought  it  involved  a  national  sin  and  that  we  ought  not  to 
consent  to  it. 

Bishop  of  Llandaff :  '  I  quite  agree  ;  and  if  opportunity  is 
given  me  I  shall  vote  against  it  as  an  unrighteous  act.  The 
State  have  a  right  to  disestablish,  but  no  right  to  seize  on 
endowments.' 

Bishop  of  Peterborough  :  '  There  are  two  quite  distinct 
questions  ;  (i)  whether  it  is  a  good  Bill ;  (2)  whether  it  is  for 
the  interest  of  the  Irish  Church  to  oppose  the  second  reading. 
Looking  at  the  interests  of  the  Irish  Church,  I  think  it  far 
best  to  pass  and  amend  it  ;  for  if  we  throw  it  out,  we  shall 
have  a  worse.  But  it  is  quite  another  question  what  the 
Bishops  shall  do  ;  there  is  a  danger  of  exasperating  enemies 
and  of  alienating  friends.  If  the  Irish  Bishops  asked  us  not 
to  vote  on  the  ground  that  it  was  best  for  the  Irish  Church 
not  to  throw  out  the  Bill,  I  should  not  object  on  the  grounds 
put  forward  by  the  Bishop  of  Ripon.  If  the  Irish  Bishops 
vote  against  the  Bill,  I  vote  against.  If  the  Irish  Bishops 
think  amending  best,  let  them  openly  say  so,  and  we  will  act 
with  them.  I  attach  great  importance  to  postponing  any 
decision  until  later.' 

Bishop  of  Derry  :  '  I  agree  with  the  last  speaker  ;  my  opi- 
nions on  the  Bill  are  what  they  were  ;  but  I  am  now  doubtful 
as  to  what  is  the  best  policy.' 

Bishop  of  Limerick :  '  I  agree  also,  on  the  whole,  but  so 
unanimous  is  the  feeling,  that  if  any  Irish  bishop  wavered  he 
would  have  no  opportunity  of  future  usefulness.  I  think  the 
wisest  course  for  statesmen  would  be  to  accept  the  second 
reading  and  to  amend.' 

Bishop  of  London  :  Agrees  with  Bishop  of  Peterborough, 
thinks  it  unwise  to  commit  ourselves.  A  most  perplexing 
position.  Thinks  it  most  expedient  for  the  Irish  Church  to 
pass  the  second  reading,  but  could  not  himself  vote  for  it. 


288  LIFE   OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.  chap.  x. 

Bishop  of  Gloucester  :  Has  no  doubt  of  the  sacrilege  of 
the  Bill,  but  the  question  is  only  one  of  policy.  Thinks  the 
best  policy  would  be  to  pass  the  second  reading,  and  amend 
and  stick  to  amendments.  If  they  were  not  accepted,  throw 
the  Bill  out  on  third  reading. 

Bishop  of  Ely  :  Agrees  with  the  late  speakers,  but  sug- 
gests that  we  should  in  our  dioceses  hold  conferences  of 
clergy  and  laity  and  come  up  to  the  House  armed  with  the 
decision  of  our  dioceses  on  the  matter. 

Bishop  of  Rochester  :  '  I  think  the  Bill  iniquitous,  and  It 
ought  not  to  pass.' 

Bishop  of  Oxford  :  *  The  Bishops  in  the  House  of  Lords 
are  statesmen  and  must  act  so.  We  are  bound  to  use  the 
power  we  have  ;  not  what  we  have  not.  We  should  deeply 
injure  the  Irish  Church  if  we  threw  the  Bill  out,  and  the  House 
of  Lords  as  well.' 

Bishop  of  Durham  :  Agrees  with  Ripon  and  Oxford. 
Bishop  of  Lichfield  :  '  What  is  the  principle  of  the  Bill } 
That  the  Established  Church  is  to   be  the  Church  of  the 
majority.     The  Queen's  oath  is  to  maintain  Protestant  ascen- 
dency.    Quite  prepared  to  oppose  the  Bill.' 

Bishop  of  St,  David's  :  '  I  had  meant  to  be  silent.  I 
could  not  take  the  judgment  of  my  diocese  or  be  led  to  vote 
by  the  will  of  the  majority.  I  am  delighted  at  finding  that  it 
was  not  the  opinion  of  the  Bishops  that  they  ought  to  act  as 
a  flock  of  sheep.  I  have  never  been  able  to  understand  what 
the  question  before  us  is.' 

Archbishop  of  Canterbury  :  '  The  real  question  Is,  how  Is 
the  great  Conservative  party  to  be  influenced .'  All  agree 
that  some  change  in  the  Irish  Establishment  Is  inevitable. 
Gladstone  only  has  a  plan,  in  my  opinion  the  worst  possible 
plan,  but  all  we  can  hope  to  do  Is  to  amend  the  present  Bill,' 

No  conclusion  having'  been  come  to,  the  discussion 
ended. 

The  debate  on  the  Irish  Church  Bill  began  in  the 
House  of  Lords  on  June  14,  and  was  continued  on  the 
15th  and  17th.  The  Bishop,  though  present  in  the 
House,  neither  spoke  nor  voted.     On  the   Bill  being 


•1869.  REASONS  FOR  NOT   VOTING.  289 

taken  in  Committee,  the  Bishop  thus  explains  his  silence 
and  gives  his  reasons  for  not  voting  on  the  second 
reading  of  the  Bill : — 

Upon  the  great  issue,  however,  which  your  lordships  care 
most  about,  I  would  ask  permission  to  say  a  few  words.  If 
you  consider  that  the  question  of  the  disestablishment  of  the 
Irish  Church  is  not  settled,  then  I  should  say,  there  is  a  fun- 
damental objection  /«  limine  to  any  proposal  for  dividing  its 
property  with  other  religious  bodies.  But  I  agree  with  what 
was  said  in  such  eloquent  language  by  my  right  honourable 
friend  the  other  night,  that  the  decision  of  the  country  upon 
that  point  has  been  taken  and  is  irreversible.  And  when 
your  lordships  were  kind  enough  to  allow  me  to  urge  my 
view  with  regard  to  the  Suspensory  Bill,  I  endeavoured  to 
impress  upon  the  House  that  the  issue  then  to  be  decided 
and  to  be  sent  for  that  purpose  to  the  constituencies,  was 
nothing  less,  and  could  be  taken  for  nothing  less,  than 
whether  we  should  maintain  an  Established  Church  in  Ireland 
or  not. 

I  then  urged  every  objection  that  occurred  to  my  mind 
against  such  a  course,  and  I  retain  every  objection  which  I 
then  urged. 

I  believe  that  the  disestablishment  of  the  Irish  Church  will 
not  tend  to  appease  Irish  discontent,  but,  instead  of  doing  so, 
will  give  to  Irish  opposition  to  the  union  with  Great  Britain 
the  increased  violence  which  comes  from  a  taste  of  success 
without  the  satisfaction  of  the  appetite. 

But  the  question  of  Disestablishment,  according  to  my 
humble  view,  is  a  settled  question.  I  maintain  that  it  was  the 
question  which  was  referred  to  the  constituencies  ;  it  was  to 
it  that  the  answer  of  the  constituencies  was  returned  ;  it  was 
so  far  confirmed  by  the  resignation  of  the  late  Government ; 
it  received  additional  sanction  by  the  appointment  of  the 
present  Government  ;  and  therefore,  in  point  of  fact — let  us 
who  dislike  the  conclusion  view  it  as  we  may — it  is  a  settled 
matter.  Holding  that  opinion,  I  wished  very  much  to  have 
stated  it  upon  the  second  reading  of  the  Bill.  It  may  be 
known  to  many  of  your  lordships  that  it  was  my  intention  to 
VOL.  III.  U 


290  LIFE   OF  BISHOP    U'lLBERFORCE.  chap,  x. 

do  so,  but  the  accidents  of  debate  shut  me  out  from  the  op- 
portunity of  making  this  statement  and  therefore  I  held 
myself  incapacitated,  as  a  Bishop  of  the  Church  of  England, 
from  giving  the  vote  I  should  otherwise  have  given,  no  oppor- 
tunity of  stating  the  grounds  on  which  I  did  so  having  pre- 
sented itself.  .  .  . 

If,  indeed,  this  struggle  were  to  be  prolonged  month  after 
month  and  year  after  year — if,  animated  by  the  mere  lust  of 
victory,  the  contest  were  to  be  carried  on  with  bitterness,  then 
indeed,  I  might  despair  of  the  future  of  the  Church  in  Ireland. 
But  all  danger  of  that  kind  is,  I  trust,  past,  for,  as  your  lord- 
ships are  aware,  political  and  party  strife  tends  by  degrees 
to  eat  out  the  heart  of  Christian  life.  I  see  this  very  keenly, 
and  therefore  I  do  trust  that  this  amendment  of  the  measure 
— if  such,  in  your  deliberate  judgment,  you  should  esteem  it 
— which  may  leave  our  Irish  brethren  with  larger  resources 
of  their  own  and  with  less  of  antagonism  and  hatred  from 
the  other  side  than  would  otherwise  have  been  possible,  may 
be  adopted  by  your  lordships,  thereby  really  strengthening  in 
her  difficulty  this  our  sister  Church. 

There  is  one  thing  of  which  I  am  convinced — that  while 
an  Establishment  is  to  a  particular  Church  in  many  ways  a 
blessing  unspeakable,  no  Church  which  cannot  stand  without 
an  Establishment  is  worth  being  established. 

I  for  one  refuse  altogether  to  believe  such  an  imputation 
against  the  Irish  Church.  Much  as  I  lament  that  which  has 
come  upon  her,  I  believe  that  when  all  has  been  done  which 
can  be  done  to  lighten  what  I  consider  a  most  unhappy  blow, 
she  will  show  herself  the  true  Catholic  Church  in  Ireland, 
rising  into  greatness,  and  leavening  more  than  she  has  yet 
done  the  bulk  of  the  population. 

The  next  letter  explains  itself.  Suffice  it  to  say  that 
it  was  only  wrung  from  the  Bishop  by  a  sense  of  the 
gross  injustice  and  foul  untruth  of  the  rumours  which  it 
contradicts.  These  misrepresentations  must  have  been 
Avidespread  indeed  when  such  an  old  and  dear  friend  as 
Mr.  Majendie  entertained  them  even  for  a  moment.  In 
one  respect  only  is  it  fortunate  that  the  necessity  for 


1869.  A   DENUDE!^  SEE.  29 1 

such  a  contradiction  arose — namely,  that  it  enabled  the 
Bishop  to  give  in  his  own  words,  the  account  of  the 
part  he  took  in  this  question,  which  account  forms  a  fit 
summing  up  of  the  chapter. 

The  Bishop  of  Oxford  to  the  Rev.  H.  Majendie. 

October  13,  1S69. 

My  dear  Majendie, — Though  I  feel  it  to  be  humiliating, 
after  a  public  life  of  twenty-four  years,  in  which,  if  such 
had  ever  been  my  object,  I  might  easily  have  reached  the 
highest  post  in  '  my  profession,'  to  answer  such  an  implied 
imputation  as  that  my  votes  on  the  Irish  Church  Bill  were 
influenced  by  a  miserable  desire  to  get  the  denuded  See  of 
Winchester,  which,  when  it  was  offered,  I  was  most  doubtful 
as  to  even  accepting  ;  yet,  in  answer  to  so  dear  a  friend  as 
you,  I  will  explain  all.  When  the  Bill  came  for  a  second 
reading  in  the  House  of  Lords,  I  considered,  (i)  after  our  re- 
jection of  the  Suspensory  Bill,  (2)  after  the  dissolution  on  the 
Irish  Church  question,  (3)  the  appeal  on  it  to  the  constitu- 
encies and  their  answer,  and  (4)  the  resignation  of  the  admi- 
nistration, without  even  meeting  Parliament,  that  the  country 
had  decided  the  question  of  Irish  disestablishment,  and  that 
we  (i)  had  no  right  constitutionally  to  refuse  to  read  the  Bill 
a  second  time,  {2)  could  not  possibly  do  worse  service  to  the 
Irish  Church  than  to  do  so.  In  this  view  such  men  as  the 
Duke  of  Richmond  (a  leading  member  of  the  late  Govern- 
ment), Lord  Salisbury,  Lord  Carnarvon,  Lord  Nelson  (our 
best  Churchman),  the  two  Archbishops,  and  last  not  least  the 
Bishop  of  Peterborough  agreed.  (He  said  to  me  that,  though 
he  was  unable,  as,  till  yesterday,  an  Irish  ecclesiastic,  to  vote 
himself  for  the  second  reading  he  regarded  the  resisting  it  as 
sacrificing  the  Irish  Church  to  the  exigencies  of  a  political 
party.)  I  did  not,  therefore,  vote  against  the  second  readincr, 
and  if  I  had  not  missed  an  opportunity  of  expressing  mv 
views  I  should  have  supported  it. 

In  committee  I  voted,  I  think,  against  the  Government 
on  every  occasion  except  two.  In  committee  I  spoke  with 
the  utmost  clearness.  I  stated  that  I  had  changed  no  one 
opinion  as  to  the  Bill  ;  that  I  thought  the  whole  movement 


292 


LIFE   OF  BISHOP   WILBERFORCE.  chap.  X. 


wrong  and  impolitic  ;  that  it  would  alienate  friends,  and  win 
no  one  ;  but  that  I  held  the  matter  to  be  decided  by  the 
nation,  and  that  all  we  could  do  was  to  make  the  details  as 
little  injurious  as  possible. 

Accordingly  I  voted. 

The  only  times  when  I  voted  with  the  Government  on 
any  matter,  were  (i)  against  postponing  the  money  settlement, 
because  I  was  convinced  that  nothing  could  be  so  bad  for  the 
disestablished  Church,  (2)  Against  refusing  to  consider  and 
amend  the  Commons'  amendments  of  our  amendments.  I 
was  confident  that  not  to  do  so  was  ruin  to  the  Irish  Church. 
That  I  was  right  was,  I  think,  shown  past  doubt  by  Lord 
Cairns  and  his  majority,  at  the  very  next  meeting  of  the 
House,  abandoning  their  ground  and  taking  mine. 

Looking  back  at  it,  I  am  more  than  ever  confident  that 
my  votes  were  given  in  the  true  interest  of  the  Irish  Church. 
I  think  it  just  worth  while  to  remind  you  farther  : — 

1.  That  when  I  took  this  line  the  Bishops'  Resignation 
Bill  was  not  passed. 

2.  That  there  was  no  prospect  of  the  vacancy  of  any  See 
I  would  accept,  and  I  may  add — 

3.  That  when  Winchester  was  offered  to  me  by  Mr. 
Gladstone  he  offered  it  saying  no  thanks  were  due  to  him  as 
he  only  sealed  the  verdict  of  the  country,  that  it  was  a  tardy 
and  insufficient  acknowledgment  of  long  services  to  the 
Church — not  the  sort  of  language  used  to  a  useful  political 
supporter. 

4.  Lastly,  the  class  of  minds  who  indulge  in  these  base 
suspicions  may  perhaps  be  affected  by  considering  that,  in 
making  the  change,  I  undertake,  (i)  harder  work  ;  (2)  during 
the  life  of  the  present  Bishop  a  smaller  income ;  (3)  far 
greater  expenses  ;  (4)  the  sacrifice  of  the  love  and  affection  of 
24  years'  growth.  I  end  with  saying  I  am  ashamed  for  those 
who  ask  it  at  giving  such  explanations.  I  am  most  truly 
yours  affectionately,  e   /-jy^.^ 

P.S. — Since  I  wrote  this  I  have  received  from  Bishop 
Milman  a  letter  expressing  his  entire  agreement  in  my 
course.  Men  from  afar  overlook  molehills,  and  see  the  real 
outlines  of  a  country. 


1869.  ALTAR  LIGHTS.  29; 


CHAPTER   XI. 

(1869.) 

LETTER  TO  SIR  C.  ANDERSON — THE  DIARY — MARTIN  V.  MACKONOCHIE- BE- 
FORE THE  TABLE— LETTERS  ON  CHANGE  OF  POSITION— DEATH  OF  BISHOP 
HAMILTON — LETTER  TO  THE  BISHOP  OF  CAPETOWN — THE  DIARY— OFFER 
OF  WINCHESTER — THE  LORD  HIGH  ALMONERSHIP — LETTER  TO  MR.  BUTLER 
— LETTER  FROM  LORD  OVERSTONE — RURIDECANAL  ADDRESSES  AND  REPLIES 
— LIVERPOOL  CONGRESS— FAREWELL  CHARGE  TO  THE  DIOCESE — ADDRESS 
OF  THE  CLERGY — REPLY— LETTER  FROM  MR.  GLADSTONE  ON  THE  ADDRESS 
— LEAVE-TAKING — ENTHRONEMENT  AT  WINCHESTER — '  SILENCE  IN  THE 
GREAT   CATHEDRAL.' 

On  December  23,  1868,  Lord  Cairns  delivered  the 
judgment  of  the  Judicial  Committee  of  the  Privy- 
Council  in  the  case  of  Martin  v.  Mackonochie.  Amoncf 
other  practices  that  of  using  lighted  candles  at  the 
celebration  of  the  Holy  Communion  was  condemned. 
On  this  judgment  the  Bishop  thus  writes  to  Sir  Charles 
Anderson,  who,  as  the  letter  shows,  had  suffered  from 
this  practice  having  been  introduced  in  the  little 
village  church  of  Lea,  where  he  lived.  The  Bishop 
thoroughly  sympathised  with  Sir  Charles,  as  he  had 
also  been  annoyed  by  this  practice  of  lighting  candles  in 
his  own  parish  of  Lavington.  He  used  to  say  :  '  What 
is  the  use  of  lighting  them  ;  can't  you  see  that  the  sun 
always  comes  in  at  that  south  window,  and  almost 
extinguishes  them  with  its  brightness  "^ ' 

The  Bishop  of  Oxford  to  Sir  Charles  Anderson. 

Goodwood',  Chichester,  Jan.  i,  1869. 

My  dearest  Anderson,— Many  happy  returns  to  you  of  the 
New  Year.  I  was  charmed  at  your  last  letter.  I  quite  re- 
joiced at  your  being  delivered  from  lights.  I  always  particularly 


294  ^^^^   ^^  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.         chap.  xi. 

disliked  that  bit  of  symbolism.  It  seemed  so  absurd  to  light 
smoky  candles  in  the  sunlight,  ugh  !  But  I  fear  the  effect  of 
the  judgment  in  many  quarters.  It  is  so  palpably  one-sided, 
and  meant  by  Cairns  to  please  *  The  Times.'  I  hear  the  lavAyers 
were  two  and  two,  and  the  Archbishop  of  York  gave  the  casting 
vote  for  it.  The  Ritualists  have  brought  it  on  us,  but  it  is  a 
very  serious  thing  to  have  the  Supreme  Court  decide  to  satisfy 
the  public  and  not  as  the  law  really  is.  There  is  one  point  on 
which  this  seems  to  me  clear — the  throwing  over  the  royal  in- 
junctions by  Parliament  without  notice  of  any  sort.  For 
the  Act  of  Elizabeth  repeals  these  injunctions.  Now  if  that 
Act  was  needed  to  repeal  them,  they  must  have  had  Parlia- 
mentary force  ;  and  our  rubric  says  what  were  in  force  by 
Parliamentary  authority  in  the  2nd  of  K.  E.  VI.,  therefore 
these  must  come  under  it.  There  may  be  an  answer  to  this, 
but  if  so  it  should  be  given.  It  is  a  bright  morning.  This  is  a 
charming  house,  and  such  nice  people.  The  more  you  know 
the  better  you  like  them.  I  have  a  most  charming  letter  from 
old  Hook  to-day,  and  though  the  old  year  has  been  a  heavily 
shadowed  one  to  me,  I  try  to  go  gladly  into  the  new  one. 
May  God  bless  you  and  all  yours,  my  dear  old  Friend. 
Your  very  affectionate  e   q,,^^t 

Writing  to  his  son  Ernest,  he  thus  sends  his  new 
year's  greetings  : — 

Goodwood,  Chichester,  Jan.  i,  1869. 

The  first  lines  of  this  morning  are  for  you,  to  wish  you 
every  blessing  from  our  God  in  this  new  year. 

It  has  opened  here  with  brilliant  sunshine  in  nature's 
realms  and  amidst  all  the  chills  of  earth  round  us  and  all  the 
clouds  gathering  over  His  Church  on  many  sides. 

May  He  Who  died  for  us  shed  His  own  light  in  our  hearts, 
and  all  shall  be  bright. 

Jaiuiary  4.— Fulham.  Off  after  breakfast  and  talk  with 
Archbishop  (of  Canterbury),  amicable  and  useful,  about 
future,  &c.  Down  to  Lavington  with  my  E.  and  F.  Happy 
meeting  at  Lavington ;  Perceval,  Jersey,  and  Owen  came ;  Mrs. 

Denman,  and  B '  and  F.  Buckland.     Good  company. 

'  Miss  Denman — now  Lady  INIilbanke. 


1869.  LENTEN  MISSION.  295 

January  5. — Day  very  wet.  They  all  went  to  catch  fish 
for  trout  spawn.  Buckland's  strange  dress.  I  rode  to  Graff- 
ham  and  back  with  W.  Hook.  Wrote  a  good  deal,  and 
finished  Micaiah  son  of  Imlah.^ 

January  10. — Up  betimes.  Letters.  Service.  Some 
earnestness,  spero.  Preached  afternoon :  danger  of  neglect- 
ing, and  how  to  use  manifestations.  Much  colder  to-day ; 
glass  sinking,  and  wind  S.E.  Evening,  some  nice  music. 
Read  a  good  deal  of  Ffoulkes's  pamphlet,  &c.  Strange  that 
he  sees  so  much  of  Rome's  abominations  and  yet  sticks 
to  her. 

February  16. — To  London.  Committee  of  Bishops  on 
Bill  for  resignation  with  pensions  :  much  concord.  Went  to 
House  of  Lords  to  hear  Gladstone's  first  speech  as  Prime 
Minister.  Calm,  moderate,  and  kindly.  Disraeli  constrained 
suo  more.  Dined  at  Athenaeum,  C.  Anderson,  Phillimore,  and 
Archbishop  of  Dublin  with  me. 

This  extract,  from  a  letter  to  his  son  Ernest,  evinces 
the  Bishop's  ever-constant  anxiety  for  his  children  : — 

26  Pall  Mall,  Feb.  17. 

I  was  disappointed  more  than  I  can  say  at  getting  no 
bulletin  from  you.     Please  send  me  ever  so  short  an  account. 

When  I  love  a  person  as  I  love  you,  though  I  can,  when 
wide  awake,  force  anxious  thoughts  out  of  my  mind  as  a 
matter  of  religious  duty,  yet  in  the  half-waking  moments  of  a 
disturbed  night  such  anxieties  become  very  troublesome. 
Don't  think  I  don't  understand  how,  with  all  your  work,  it  has 
happened. 

The  diary  next  records  the  annual  Lenten  mission, 
held  this  year  at  Maidenhead.  And  so  highly  did  the 
people  appreciate  the  efforts  that  were  being  made,  that 
all  shops  in  the  town,  including  those  belonging  to  the 
Dissenters,  were  closed  at  seven  every  evening,  in 
order  that  all  might  go  to  the  evening  services.  The 
Lenten  Ordination  was,  as  usual,  held  during  the 
mission  week. 

*  For  Good  Words. 


296  LIFE  OF  BISHOP   WILBERFORCE.         chap.  XI, 

February  21. — (Maidenhead).  Morning,  the  Ordination. 
Woodford  preached  an  excellent  sermon  on  '  a  city  that  hath 
foundations.'  Dear  Archdeacon  Randall  came.  A  striking 
service.  After  some  letters,  with  Woodford  helping,  prepared 
sermon  on  God's  forbearance.  Vast  congregation  ;  did  not 
satisfy  myself,  but  many  liked  it — God  bless  it.  They  very 
attentive. 

February  22. — Gave  the  Communion  address.  Confirmed  at 
Cookham  Dean,  Bray,  and  Boyne  Hill.  And  at  evening  service 
Body  preached.  Too  much  rant  to  please  me,  but  evidently 
a  very  impressive  sermon.     Very  interesting  conference  after. 

Februafy  27. — Maidenhead.  Early  Communion,  and  very 
good  addresses  by  Pott,  with  whom  after  to  Wargrave  con- 
firmation and  Shottisbrooke.  To  Maidenhead  Mission 
Chapel.  Evening,  addressed  working-men  in  school.  Very 
much  tired  at  night. 

February  28. — Anniversary  of  my  Herbert's  death.  Up 
early.  At  10  off  for  Hurley.  Service  and  Confirmation,  nice. 
Then  to  open  school  chapel.  Stormy  day.  Prepared  sermon, 
and  preached  on  blessedness  of  life  in  God  to  a  very  large  and 
attentive  congregation. 

March  16. — Aston  Tirrold.  Confirmation  a  nice  one.  On  to 
Streatley,  ditto.  Then  to  St.  Catherine's,  Bearwood.  Walked 
with  C.  Lloyd  and  Walter  about  grounds.  A  good  many  to 
dinner.     Mr.  and  Mrs.  Walter  very  pleasant. 

The  visit  to  Bearwood  mentioned  in  the  above 
entry  is  one  of  the  many  which  the  Bishop  paid  to  Mr. 
Walter.  In  1864,  the  diary  notes  a  visit  there  in  these 
words  :  '  To  Bearwood.  J.  Walter,  as  always  with  me, 
cordial.'  And  the  next  day  the  diary  gives  a  rather 
curious  piece  of  history  connected  with  the  great  daily 
paper  of  which  Mr  Walter  was  so  large  a  proprietor  : — 

J.  Walter's  curious  talk  about  '  Times.'  One  of  his  father's 
rules  was  that  the  editor  never  wrote.  Stirling  never  edited ; 
wrote  articles  only,  like  anyone  else.  Circulation  70,000 ;  profits 
larger  than  ever.  The  crisis  whether  he  should  lower  price. 
Did  so  to  prevent  a  twopenny  first-class  paper  stepping  in. 


1869.  VISIT  TO    WINDSOR.  297 

The  Diary  for  1869  then  continues  : — 

March  17. — To  London,  Ritual.  Called  Grosvenor  Street  ;^ 
better  report.  Ritual  and  Lectionary  till  late.  Dined  Duke 
of  Cambridge  ;  large  party  :  Hardy,  Northcote,  Pakington, 
Duke  of  Marlborough.  Home  with  Duke.  Very  strong,  that 
House  of  Lords  ought  to  throw  out  Irish  Church  Bill.  Duty 
to  protect  property. 

March  20. — Confirmation  at  Wellington  College.  Cold 
very  bad  ;  but,  D.  G.  managed  to  be  heard.  After  luncheon, 
writing,  and  seeing,  with  Fosbery  to  Old  Windsor.  Dear 
Blunt  affectionate  as  always.  A  very  nice  Confirmation.  Back 
to  Windsor  Castle  and  prepared  sermon.  Dined  with  the 
Queen.  A  great  deal  of  talk  with  Princess  Louise  ;  clever 
and  very  agreeable.  The  Queen  very  affable.  '  So  sorry  Mr. 
Gladstone  started  this  about  Irish  Church,  and  he  is  a  great 
friend  of  yours,'  &c. 

March  21. — Up  to  prepare  sermon  :  'Let  this  mind  be  in 
you.'  Well  listened  to.  Afternoon  confirmed  at  Eton 
Parish.  Wet.  Back  with  Fosbery  to  St.  George's,  and  tea  at 
Deanery.  Dined  with  household.  Sent  for  to  Queen  after. 
Talk  with  her  and  Princess  Louise.  Norman  Macleod's  story 
of  rather  gluttonous  Presbyterian  minister,  who  was  used  to 
look  at  the  dinner  before  saying  grace  ;  and  if  it  was  a  good 
one,  began,  'Bountiful  Jehovah,'  &c.  If  it  looked  bad,  'We 
are  not,  O  Lord,  worthy  of  the  least  of  Thy  mercies.' 

March  27. —  Started  early  from  Lilly  Hill  to  Oxford. 
Very  cold.  Wrote  at  Reading.  Snow  at  Oxford.  My 
Basil  met  me.     Confirmed  at  St.  Giles',  St.  Mary's,  and  St. 

Thomas'.     Lunch  warden  of  All  Souls,  where   C ■*   and 

darling  Herbert.''  Very  much  wearied  out.  To  London,  writing. 
Dined  with  E.  Hamilton,  and  saw  Bishop  of  Salisbury.  After 
dinner,  palpitations.  Dr.  Gull  came  in,  most  kind.  Sent  out 
for  medicines,  and  attended  me  till  between  12  and  i. 

The  illness  recorded  in  the  above  entry  lasted 
several  days,  during  which,  as  the  diary  relates,  the 
Bishop    was  engaged  in    writing  a  review  for    '  The 

*  On  Bishop  Hamilton.        *  Mrs.  Basil  Wilberforce.  *  His  grandson. 


298  LIFE   OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.         chap.  XI. 

Quarterly,'  on  Sir  J.  T.  Coleridge's  memoir  of  Mr. 
Keble,  and  '  Abraham '  for  '  Good  Words.'  The 
latter  was  one  of  a  series  of  articles  on  the  Hebrew 
Patriarchs  written  for  this  journal,  principally  in  this 
year ;  they  were  afterwards  republished  in  a  separate 
book  which  was  called  '  Heroes  of  Hebrew  History.' 

The  Martin  v.  Mackonochie  judgment  had  decided 
in  favour  of  *  standing  '  instead  of  '  kneeling  before  the 
Table.'  And  though  the  words  '  before  the  Table  ' 
were  not  directly  before  the  Court,  yet  it  appeared  by 
an  obiter  dictitm  in  the  judgment  that  '  before  the  Table  ' 
would  be  held  to  mean  in  front.  The  Bishop  accord- 
ingly changed  the  position  in  which  he  had  previously 
stood  ;  and,  during  the  Consecration  Pra3'er,  stood  in 
front  of  the  Table.  The  next  letters,  written  to  men  of 
different  schools  of  thought,  explain  the  Bishop's  rea- 
sons for  making  the  change.  Afterwards,  when  in 
another  case  the  interpretation  of  the  whole  rubric 
was  before  the  Court,  and  it  decided  asfainst  the  view 
expressed  by  the  Bishop  in  these  letters,  he  again,  in 
obedience  to  the  law,  reverted  to  his  original  position 
at  the  north  end. 

The  Bishop  of  Oxford  to  the  Rev.  C.  y.  Elliott. 

Lavington,  May  11. 
I  understand  before  the  Table  as  you  do,  with  this  excep- 
tion. I  think  that  it  abides  as  the  rule  wherever  the  Table 
stands,  and  obliges  us  there  to  stand  before  it.  I  do  not  agree 
as  to  being  seen  of  the  people.  I  think  the  point  of  the 
rubric  is  against  wafers,  and  means  that  the  bread  is  openly  to 
be  broken  in  the  face  of  the  congregation.  Moreover,  I  see  no 
difficulty  in  breaking  it  on  the  right-hand  side  of  the  Priest, 
without  any  stretching  or  awkwardness,  more  in  sight  than  at 
the  north  end.  But,  my  dear  Elliott,  my  heart  is  sick  of 
seeing  the  attention  and  heart  of  the  Church  turned  aside  to 
such  trifles  when  we  have  untaught  multitudes  and  uncon- 


1869.  BEFORE   THE   TABLE,  299 

verted  millions  and  scores  and  scores  of  unbelieving 
rationalists  to  whom  we  do  not  preach  Jesus  Christ  crucified. 
May  God  forgive  us.    Yours,  ever  affectionately, 

S.  OXON. 

The  next  day  he  again  writes  to  him  : — 

I  should  be  very  sorry  to  seei7i  to  you  to  give  you  any  just 
grounds  of  complaint.  I  cannot  see  the  least  ground  myself 
in  this  matter. 

Right  or  wrong,  I  consider  the  late  judgment  to  have 
decided  that  I  am  bound  to  say  the  Consecration  Prayer 
'standing  before  the  Table.'  I  cannot  separate  standiiig  (the 
actual  point  in  contest)  from  '  before  the  Table.'  I  found  that 
one  of  the  coolest-headed  of  my  brethren,  with  whom  I  was  in 
communication,  the  Bishop  of  Worcester  felt  the  same  obliga- 
tion.     Therefore,  simply  as  an  act  of  obedience,  I  conform. 

I  stated  this  to  my  Rural  Deans,  asking  them  to  make 
known  my  change  of  custom  and  its  reason  to  their  Chapters, 
and  to  say  that  whilst,  as  this  point  had  7iot  been  legally  raised 
and  decided,  I  did  not  feel  able  or  willing  to  enforce  it,  I  should 
be  very  glad  if  we  could  all  act  uniformly  on  the  simple 
principle  of  obedience  ;  all  standing  at  the  north  end  except 
at  the  Consecration  Prayer  ;  all  before  the  Table  at  it. 

I  cannot  believe  that  you  can  see  in  this  anything  except 
the  desire  to  be  entirely  open  with  my  clergy. 

The  Bishop  of  Oxford  to  the  Rev.  A.  P.  Cust. 

May  II,  1869. 
My  dear  Cust, — My  position  is  this  :  a  new  legal  decision 
has  required  obedient  attention  to  the  rubric,  *  the  Priest 
standing  before  the  Table  shall  say,  &c.'  The  only  part  of 
this  rubric  which  came  in  question  before  the  Court  was  the 
word  '  standing.'  '  Before  the  Table  '  was  not  therefore  inter- 
preted by  the  Court  ;  but  whatever  be  its  true  interpretation, 
new  vigour  was  given  to  it  as  a  command.  I  think,  therefore, 
we  are  bound  to  'stand  before  the  Table'  at  the  Consecration 
Prayer.  /  understand  this  to  be  standing  in  the  front  of  the 
Table,  turning  towards  it.  I  have  felt,  therefore,  bound  to 
change  my  own  custom  ;  and,  instead  of  standing  at  the  north 


300  LIFE  OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.         chap.  XT. 

end  of  theTable  throughout  the  Communion  office,  I,  at  the  time 
of  the  Consecration  Prayer,  move  to  the  Holy  Table,  and  stand 
at  the  west  side,  turning  towards  theTable  during  the  Consecra- 
tion Prayer.  I  do  not  feel  that  I  have  a  right  to  order  this, 
because  no  authoritative  interpretation  has  been  given  of  the 
words  '  standing  before  the  Table  ; '  and  I  have  no  ivish  to 
make  an  order.  But  I  should  of  course  rejoice  if  the  clergy 
generally  would  adopt  one  and  the  same  order  in  the  Diocese. 
This  would  be  to  preach  the  morning  sermon  in  the  surplice  ; 
to  stand  at  the  west  end  of  the  Holy  Table  throughout  the 
Communion  office,  save  at  the  time  of  the  Consecration,  and 
to  say  that  prayer  standing  at  the  west  side  of  the  Table  turned 
towards  it.  If  this  were  generally  done,  the  great  badges  of 
party  would  be  banished  from  our  churches  and  men's  minds 
might,  under  God's  blessing,  be  drawn  from  a  miserable  strife 
about  the  mode  of  the  clergyman's  dress  to  the  glorious  and 
blessed  work  of  preaching  Christ  crucified  before  perishing 
souls. 

June  lo. — Poor  night ;  cough,  &c.  I  went  to  breakfast 
with  Gladstone  ;  Newman  Hall,  Duke  of  Argyll,  &c.  &c.  A 
talk  with  Gladstone  ;  about  Irish  Church.  Then  Ecclesiastical 
Commission.  Then  Ritual  till  House  of  Lords.  A  little  ride, 
and  dined  at  Lady  Herbert's. 

June  II. — Poor  night.  Prevost  breakfasted.  Various 
came.  Then  Ritual  and  letters  till  House  of  Lords.  Com- 
mittee of  Bounty  Board.  Dined  Merchant  Tailors,  going 
with  Hope,  and  sitting  next  Lord  Stanley.  Much  talk. 
Strong  against  throwing  out  Irish  Church  Bill.  '  My  father 
cannot  be  convinced  that  he  is  now  a  mere  private,  and  so 
allowed  to  take  part  as  his  inclinations  lead.' 

Jiine  12. — Poorly  from  cough  in  night.  Letters,  and 
various  with  me.  interesting  case  of  conscience.  Clergy- 
man full  of  earnestness,  half-convinced  that  Irvingism,  which 
he  had  joined,  false  ;  quite  convinced  that  much  of  its  present 
teaching  false  ;  great  struggle  if  to  resign.  British  Museum  ; 
first  attendance.  Dizzy's  cold  estrangement  from  all.  He 
and  I  did  not  see  one  another.  Warm  greetings  from  the 
rest.     Letters  and  '  Joseph,'  °  and  down  to  Coworth. 

*  For  Good  Words. 


1869.  DEATH  OF  BISHOP  HAMILTON.  301 

June  13. — Very  poor  night,  wakeful  and  cough  ;  and  yet, 
D.G.,  better  to-day.  Prepared  and  preached  with  interest 
sermon  on  Luke  xv.  7.  After  wrote  'Joseph  '  and  letters. 
Walked  down  Cedar  Walk  and  by  Virginia  Water  with 
Arbuthnot.  Grand  old  giant  trees  and  very  beautiful  in  sun- 
light. Yet  man's  aspiration  for  freedom.  Arbuthnot  never 
rides  in  Park  except  to  show  it — goes  to  open  down.  Dr. 
Monsell  preached  evening  on  my  morning  text  :  good,  but  too 
Irish. 

On  August  3,  the  Bishop  thus  writes  to  the  Bishop 
of  Capetown.  The  first  part  of  the  letter  refers  to  the 
death  of  Bishop  Hamilton,  who  was  so  dear  to  both  of 
them.  Bishop  Wilberforce's  affection  for  Bishop 
Hamilton  is  manifested  by  the  correspondence  which 
took  place  between  them.  Bishop  Wilberforce  always 
wrote  to  him  as  '  My  dearest  brother.'  It  is  to  be 
regretted  that  most  of  these  letters  were  of  such  a 
private  character  that  they  could  not  be  published. 

How  exceeding  great  is  our  loss !  I  feel  that  there  is  no 
one  left  quite  like  him,  dearly  as  I  love  Rochester  and  most 
highly  as  I  value  him.  It  has  been  quite  a  terrible  struggle 
this  long  illness,  mind  depressed,  I  think,  through  the  effect 
of  the  bodily  ailment.  But  the  soul  evidently  ripening  and 
clearing  ever  more  ;  and  now  he  is  at  peace.  It  was  the 
hardness  of  those  Dorsetshire  clergy  after  his  last  Charge  and 
their  long  persecution  which  broke  his  heart  and  as  much 
killed  him  as  if  they  had  used  the  knife. 

I  wait,  not  without  deep  anxiety,  for  the  nomination  of  his 
successor.  I  have  not  any  misgivings  about  Gladstone  per- 
sonally. But  as  leader  of  the  party  to  which  the  folly  of  the 
Conservatives  and  the  selfish  treachery  of  Disraeli  bit  by  bit 
allied  him  he  cannot  do  what  he  Avould,  and,  with  all  his  vast 
powers,  there  is  a  want  of  sharp-sighted  clearness  as  to  others. 
But  God  rules. 

I  do  not  see  how  we  are,  after  Disraeli's  Reform  Bill,  lonsr 
to  avoid  fundamental  changes  both  in  Church  and  State. 

In  my  own  diocese  all,  thank  God,  advances  quietly  and 


302  LIFE  OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.         CHAP.  XI. 

peacefully  as  I  should  wish.  I  have  a  prospect  of  a  visitation 
before  me  this  year :  always  to  me  a  disagreeable  time  from 
its  being  such  a  demonstration  of  one's  self,  one's  opinions,  &c. 
And  yet  I  hardly  see  how  to  break  away  from  the  trammels 
of  its  customary  management. 

August  2. — Off  early  to  Wantage,  Reading,  and  Checken- 
don.  A  largegathering,  and  most  hearty  welcoming,  D.G.  When 
others  gone,  went  and  looked  at  our  room  !  After,  luncheon 
in  tent. 

On  this  occasion  the  Rector  proposed  the  health  of 
the  Bishop  under  the  name  of  Mr.  Wilberforce,  for  it 
was  as  Mr.  Wilberforce  that  the  Bishop's  name  was 
cherished  there.  As  was  said  by  an  old  woman  in  the 
workhouse  at  Henley,  in  1864,  'He  went  away  from 
us  and  sorely  we  missed  him.  We  heard  that  they 
had  made  him  a  Bishop,  but  he  was  ou7'-  Mr.  Wilber- 
force, and  I  can  never  call  him  anything  else.' 

August  7. —  Macclesfield  and  Lane  Fox  went ;  all  very 
pleasant.  How  kind  people  are !  Yet  what  a  void  in  my 
heart !  Such  a  longing  all  these  days  for  closer  union  with 
Christ,  my  only  Lord.  Dearest  children,  kind  friends  only 
make  me  long  more  for  what  only  can  fill  my  heart  up.  Oh, 
dear  Lord,  by  Thy  own  might,  work  in  me  that  oneness  with 
Thee.  My  dearest  brother  at  Salisbury  being  even  now  laid 
in  the  ground.  His  work  how  faithfully  done.  On  to  Leeds 
where  welcomed  with  great  affection  by  Woodford.  Walked 
about  Leeds. 

On  September  i,  the  Bishop  was  at  Inverness  with 
the  Bishop  of  Rochester  to  preach  at  the  opening  of 
the  cathedral.  The  entry  in  the  diary  is  :  '  Most  kindly 
received  by  Bishop  Eden  and  all  his  family.  The 
cathedral  excellent.'  At  the  luncheon  the  Bishop 
spoke  of  the  power  of  Bishop  Eden  of  overleaping 
difficulty,  '  prophetically  shown  at  Oxford  by  his  power 
of  leaping  over  anything  that  he  could  reach  the  top  of 


1869.  VISIT  TO  SCOTLAND.  303 

with  his  nose.  .  .  .  Put  a  difficulty  before  him,  his  first 
instinct  is  to  leap  over  it.  There  is  another  way  of 
dealing  with  a  difficulty  ;  that  is,  retiring  into  a  corner 
to  growl  and  bite  your  own  tail.  That  way  will  never 
answer.' 

From  Inverness,  the  Bishop,  with  the  Bishop  of 
Rochester,  so  often  his  companion  in  these  Scotch  ex- 
peditions which  were  always  a  pleasure  to  him,  went 
to  Glenferness,  Lord  Leven's,  where  he  was  'most 
kindly  welcomed.  Fly-fished  with  Bishop  of  Rochester. 
He  succeeded  better  than  I.' 

September  4. — To  Gordon  Castle,  with  Lord  A.  Lennox. 
Walked  with  Duke  (of  Richmond)  to  Spey  and  round 
Gardens.  He  quite  alive  to  danger  to  Established  Church 
now  from  giving  up  the  Patronage  question.  His  factor's 
answer  when  a  minister  told  him  how  they  had  carried  it  in 
Synod:  'Then  you'll  be  giving  up  your  own  livings  and 
taking  them  back  if  freely  appointed.'  Complaint  of  minister : 
'  A  gude  man,  but  terribly  confined  to  the  paper.' 

September  5. — Up  and  prepared  seunon,  Matthew  vi.  6. 
Preached  it  with  interest,  the  little  chapel  quite  full.  A  happy 
Communion.  Afternoon  Bishop  of  Rochester  preached  on 
Love  of  God  and  our  love  of  each  other.  A  walk  in  the 
afternoon  to  Burn  on  river.     All  very  pleasant. 

September  7. — Off  at  5  A.M.  Read  office.  Wrote  a  good 
bit  of  Samson.^  Read  a  little.  Wonderful  beauty  of  the 
Ben  Mac  Dhui  and  Cairn  Gorm  district.  Heavy  clouds  with 
all  varieties  of  lights  settling  down  on  them.  Killiecrankie 
beautiful  but  not  the  exalted  beauty  of  the  others.  Rain 
came  on  and  murky  in  Glasgow,  where  Cathedral  with  B. 
Wilson.  To  Balloch  to  dinner  and  sleep.  Full  of  birthday 
thoughts  and  prayers. 

September  8. — Off  by  8.30  boat.  The  morning  beautiful. 
All  cascades,  &c.,  filled  with  night's  rain.  At  Lake's  Head  on 
box  of  coach  with  Bishop  of  Rochester.  To  Forest  Lodge 
where  Mrs.  Claughton,  &c.  What  a  welcome  to  Claughton  ! 
what  I  once  had.     All  most  kind  to  me. 

'  For  Good  Words. 


304  LIFE   OF  BISHOP   WILBERFORCE.        CHAP.  XI. 

September  15. — London.  Slept  a  good  deal  in  the  night. 
Breakfasted  at  Athenaeum.  Heard  from  W.  E.  G.  Most 
kind  letter.  '  Time  come  for  him  to  seal  the  general  verdict/ 
and  ask  if  he  might  name  me  to  Queen  for  Winchester. 
Down  evening  to  Oxford  and  Middleton,*  The  dear  ones 
there  very  affectionate. 

This  entry  in  the  diary  shows  the  confirmation  of 
the  rumour  that  Bishop  Wilberforce  was  to  succeed  his 
old  friend  Bishop  Sumner,  at  Winchester.  Ever  since 
the  passing  of  the  '  Bishops'  Resignation  Bill '  common 
report  had  placed  Bishop  Wilberforce  at  Winchester. 
So  authoritatively  had  this  been  stated  that  in  August 
the  Bishop  found  it  necessary  to  write  to  one  of  his 
clergy  who  had  sent  a  most  affectionate  letter,  saying 
that  he  had  not  received  the  slightest  intimation  of  any 
offer  of  the  See  of  Winchester,  nor  did  he  imagine  any 
offer  would  be  made  until  the  actual  resignation  took 
place  in  October.  The  letter  then  says :  *  These  rumours 
have  forced  me  to  feel  what  a  wrench  it  would  be  to  tear 
me  from  my  present  affectionate  and  beloved  diocese.' 
Mr.  Gladstone  took  the  unusual  course  of  first  asking 
the  Bishop  whether  he  might  name  him  to  the  Queen. 
Mr.  Gladstone  was  aware  that  it  was  no  promotion  he 
had  to  offer,  and  he  was  also  aware  of  the  disadvan- 
tageous temporal  conditions  which  were  attached  to 
the  See  of  Winchester,  as  the  income  the  Bishop 
would  receive  from  the  Diocese  was,  on  account  of 
Bishop  Sumner's  pension,  smaller  than  that  which  he 
received  as  Bishop  of  Oxford.  The  claims  upon  it 
were  greater.  The  work  was  harder,  there  was  a 
Diocese  to  organise  afresh,  and  all  the  cares  and 
troubles  of  South  London — this  was  all  Bishop  Wilber- 
force gained  by  the  translation  from  Oxford  to  Win- 
chester.    Doubtless  it  was  the  conviction  that  there 

*  The  living  of  his  son  Ernest. 


1869.  FROM  OXFORD   TO    WINCHESTFR.  30 3 

was  much  to  be  done  in  this  new  sphere,  coupled  with 
an  almost  romantic  attachment  to  the  scene  of  his  early 
labours  as  parish-priest  and  Archdeacon,  that  decided 
the  Bishop,  after  twenty-fo'jr  years'  work,  to  leave  the 
Oxford  diocese  which  his  skill  and  energy  had  welded 
together  out  of  the  most  discordant  materials.  This 
now  perfectly  organised  diocese  was  to  be  exchanged 
for  one  which  required  re-organisation  and  in  which 
he  was  regarded  by  many  of  the  clergy  with  suspicion, 
in  place  of  the  confidence  which  his  labours  had  won 
for  him  in  Oxford. 

This  accord  between  the  Bishop  and  his  clerg)- 
made  a  great  impression  on  the  late  Lord  Beaconsfield, 
who,  after  a  meeting  in  1868  at  which  he  was  present 
and  spoke,  said  to  a  friend  :  '  There  is  one  thing  in  the 
Bishop  of  Oxford  which  strikes  me  even  more  than  his 
eloquence  :  it  is  the  wonderful  faculty  he  possesses  of 
gathering  round  him  so  many  like-minded  with  him- 
self for  work.' 

Some,  indeed,  of  the  clergy,  notably  Charles 
Kingsley,  welcomed  him  with  affection  ;  but  as,  during 
his  long  episcopate,  Bishop  Sumner  had  appointed  to 
every  living  in  his  gift  in  the  diocese  except  two,  it  is  not 
a  matter  of  surprise  that  the  majority  of  the  Winchester 
clergy  should  have  regarded  Bishop  Wilberforce  with 
feelings  natural  to  men  who  dislike  change. 

One  new  position,  as  Dean  Hook  said,  the  Bishop 
secured  by  the  change,  which  was  *  that  many  who  were 
accustomed  to  think  the  Bishop  of  Oxford  common 
property,  always  ready  for  any  work  in  England  or 
Scotland,  will  hesitate  to  apply  to  the  Bishop  of 
Winchester.'  Whether  this  concentration  of  labour 
was  a  gain  to  a  man  of  the  Bishop's  temperament 
may  be  doubted  ;  but  at  any  rate  he  could  no  longer  be, 
as  Mrs.  Sargent  used  to  designate  him,  'a  hack  Bishop.' 

VOL.  III.  X 


3o6  LIFE   OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.         chap.  xi. 

The  next  letter  refers  to  the  Lord  High  Almoner- 
ship.  This  was  an  appointment  in  the  Royal  House- 
hold, and  conferred  on  the  holder  all  the  privileges  of 
a  member  of  the  Household.  The  Bishop  had  held 
this  appointment  since  1847.  ^^  i^  nowise  appertained 
to  the  Bishopric  like  the  Chancellorship  of  the  Garter 
or  the  Prelacy  of  that  Order  to  which  he  succeeded 
as  Bishop  of  Winchester. 

Dean  Wellesley,  who  was  chaplain  to  the  Queen, 
had  ascertained  from  Her  Majesty  that  if  the  Bishop 
resigned  the  Lord  High  Almonership  she  would  wish 
him  to  be  appointed  to  the  post.  He  thereupon  wrote 
to  the  Bishop  saying,  '  You  will  understand  that  the 
wish  originated  from  me,  not  from  the  Queen'  The 
Bishop  thereupon  resigned  the  Lord  High  Almoner- 
ship, and  the  Dean,  writing  on  September  22,  says  : 
*  From  few  could  have  been  expected  so  great  and 
disinterested  an  act  of  friendship  as  you  have  shown  to 
me.     I  shall  always  feel  most  grateful  to  you.' 

The  Bishop  of  Oxford  to  the  Right  Hon. 
W.  E.  Gladstone. 

September  21,  1869. 
I  will  not  disguise  from  }-ou  that  it  is  a  great  surrender : 
1st,  from  its  connection  with  the  Queen  ;  and  2nd,  from  its  large 
opportunity  of  charity.  But  J.  entirely  appreciate  the  reason 
for  my  making  it.  The  personal  advantages  of  the  entree  and 
the  right  of  passing  through  the  Park,  which  I  have  enjoyed  for 
twenty-two  years,  I  understand  you  that  I  retain  as  Prelate 
of  the  Garter.  I  highly  appreciate  your  kindness  in  not  naming 
this  till  the  other  transfer  was  settled,  and  for  the  same  cause 
I  should  be  glad  not  to  tender  it  or  have  it  talked  of  till  I  am 
well  settled  in  the  new  seat.  I  should  be  very  glad  if  you 
would  allow  me  to  communicate  in  secrecy  to  the  Bishop  of 
Winchester  your  offer  to  me.  I  think,  from  our  old  con- 
nection and  regard,  he  is  entitled  to  hear  it  from  me,  and  that 
it  would  a  good  deal  facilitate  matters  between  us. 


1869.  THE  FORMAL   OFFER.  307 

The  more  formal  announcement  of  the  translation 
to  the  See  of  Winchester  is  contained  in  this  letter : — • 

The  Right  Hon.  W.  E.  Gladstone  to  the 
Bishop  of  Oxford. 

September  2S,  1869. 

My  dear  Bishop  of  Oxford, — One  word  to  say  that  I  now 
personally  propose  to  you,  with  the  Queen's  sanction,  that 
you  should  be  translated  from  Oxford  to  Winchester.  You 
are  aware,  I  think,  of  all  the  circumstances  which  affect  this 
transfer ;  and  I  send  this  letter  as  a  mere  matter  of  business 
on  a  subject  virtually  settled  already.  But  I  must  add  that 
I  shall  watch  with  a  profound  interest  the  girding  up  of  such 
energies  as  yours  for  the  great  work  which  the  metropolitan 
part  in  particular  of  your  diocese  will  open  to  you  ;  and  that, 
in  regard  to  those  incidental  attributes  of  your  position  which 
belong  to  the  mixed  sphere  of  religion  and  the  scBculmn,  I  shall 
not  scruple  to  avail  myself  upon  occasion  of  the  privileges  of 
an  old  friendship,  thoroughly  cemented  by  the  difficulties  of 
these  arduous  times,  to  submit  any  representation  that  may 
be  prompted  by  my  point  of  view  to  your  independent  judg- 
ment. 

If  you  obtain  any  more  exact  information  as  to  the  time 
when  Winchester  will  be  vacant,  please  to  let  me  know.  I 
remain  affectionately  yours,  ^  ^  Gladstone. 

An  extract  from  a  letter  to  Sir  R.  Phillimore, 
written  the  day  the  Bishop  received  Mr.  Gladstone's 
letter,  is :  'I  can  hardly  contemplate  leaving  this 
diocese  for  any  other  work  without  a  broken  heart. 
But  wherever  the  hand  seems  to  me  to  lead  I  would 
follow.' 

To  Mr.  Butler  the  Bishop  writes  : 

Nonis  Green,  Liverpool,  Oct.  2,  1869. 

After  doubts  greatly  aggravated  by  your  and  Mrs.  Butler's 
advice  and  with  a  tearing  of  my  heart  asunder,  I  have  just 
signified  to  the  Crown  the  acceptance  by  me  of  the  offered 

X  2 


308  LIFE  OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.         chap.  xi. 

Sec  of  Winchester.  I  hope,  after  earnest  prayer  and  such 
counsel  as  I  could  get,  that  I  have  done  right. 

If  my  strength  lasts,  and  if  I  am  able  (for  I  shall  be  a 
much  poorer  man)  to  live  in  the  new  See,  I  see  openings  of 
work  and  usefulness  which  it  does  not  seem  to  me  that  a  con- 
tinuance in  my  happy  diocese  would  afford  me.  I  beseech 
you  to  pray  for  me. 

It  is  to  be  a  secret  amongst  intimate  friends  till  the  resig- 
nation is  complete. 

You  will  be  thoroughly  satisfied  v.ith  my  successor. 
INIackarness  of  Exeter  is  to  succeed  me. 

After  this  formal  offer  was  accepted,  the  Bishop 
received  from  all  parts  of  the  diocese  letters  and 
addresses  of  affection.  One  of  these  letters  is  so 
touching-  and  so  characteristic  that  it  is  given  in  full  : 

Lord  Overs/ one  to  the  Bishop  of  Oxford. 

Enlcan-es,  Fife,  October  S,  1S69. 

My  dear  Lord  Bishop, — Your  very  kind  letter  has  found 
its  way  to  me  in  this  benighted  land,  where  Bishops  are  held 
to  be  unorthodox  and  without  authority  ! 

But  what  must  I  say  to  the  communication  which  it  con- 
veys to  me  .''  Must  I  suppress  all  selfish  feelings  and  really 
rejoice  in  the  good  fortunes  of  my  neighbours  of  Winchester, 
though  obtained  at  the  sacrifice  of  myself  and  my  brethren 
of  Bucks,  Berks,  and  Oxon  }  This  is  a  hard  lesson  to  learn 
and  to  practise.  But  I  will  strive  to  bear  all  things  and  to 
hope  all  things,  to  bear  my  own  loss  and  desolation  whilst 
contemplating  the  happier  state  of  others — O  rare  virtue  ! 
to  hope  that  that  wonderful  union  of  physical  and  moral 
energy  which  has  worked  such  wonders  in  the  diocese  of 
Oxford  may  long  continue  unimpaired  in  the  new  vineyard 
to  which  it  is  about  to  be  translated — there  burning  the 
weeds  and  there  making  them  to  fertilise  the  very  ground 
which  they  may  have  encumbered,  and  at  the  same  time 
stirring  to  its  very  depth  the  good  soil,  and  making  an 
hundredfold  to  spring  up  where  fifty  only  were  seen  before. 


1869.  TAKING  LEAVE.  309 

But  what  of  Lavington — that  place  of  grateful  memory, 
of  hard  living,  of  hard  riding,  hard  walking,  hard  talking,  and 
soft  kindness  which  cannot  be  forgotten — there  at  least  will 
remain  a  neutral  spot,  where  the  members  of  the  deserted 
flock  may  meet  their  former  pastor  and  master — placing 
their  frankincense  and  myrrh  at  his  feet  and  seeking  in  return 
the  continuance  of  his  episcopal  benediction. 

'  Tibi    in    aliena   regna  abeunti   fausta   omnia   ac  felicia 

exoptO.'  OVERSTONE. 

Of  the  Bishop's  responses  to  addresses  from  the 
Rural  Deaneries  this  answer  to  the  clergy  of  the 
Cuddesdon  Ruri- Decanal  Chapter  may  be  taken  as  a 
specimen.  All  such  responses  alike  bear  witness  that, 
while  the  Bishop  felt  he  ought  not  to  refuse  the  toil 
and  responsibility  of  the  great  Winchester  diocese, 
yet,  now  that  the  leave-taking  had  really  begun,  he 
could  hardly  bear  it. 

The  Bishop  of  Oxford  to  the  Rev.  f.  AshhiLrst. 

Shalstone,  October  16,  1869. 

My  dear  Ashhurst, — I  shall  be  greatly  obliged  by  your 
assuring  your  Rural  Chapter  how  warmly  I  return  their  ex- 
pression of  affection.  I  have  had  in  them  to  do  with  men 
devoted  to  their  high  calling,  exemplary  in  life,  of  rare  ability  ; 
and  who  have  shown  a  readiness  to  work  with  me,  and  a 
tenderness  and  forbearance  towards  me  as  well  as  a  con- 
fidence in  me  which  touch  my  inmost  soul. 

I  can  never  hope  for  so  happy  a  lot  as  that  which  I  am 
yielding  up.  But  I  ask  for  my  brethren's  prayers  that  I  may 
be  enabled  to  know  and  do  the  will  of  God  in  the  numberless 
perplexities  and  difficulties  which  I  sec  before  me.  I  shall 
ever  watch  over  your  success  and  theirs  with  the  most  lively 
interest.  I  feel  now  that  their  question  as  to  a  Diocesan 
Synod  must  await  the  judgment  of  my  successor. 

I  am  ever  your  and  their  heartily  affectionate 

S.  OXON. 


,IO  LIFE   OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.         chap.  xi. 

To  the  Rev.  Hus^h  Pearson  he  writes  : — 


'&' 


Giving  up  Oxford  is  to  me  hke  giving  up  life  now  it 
comes  to  the  point :  and  following  with  diminished  means, 
&€.,  C.  R.  W.,  and  taking  his  seat  at  the  head  of  a  diocese 
leavened  as  that  is :  it  all  seems  terrible,  simply  terrible. 

To  the  Rev.  Canon  Gordon  the  Bishop  writes : — 

I  cannot  tell  the  pain  of  leaving  you  all.  At  present  my 
spirits  are  sunk  utterly,  and  I  can  only  ask  for  your  prayers 
that  the  strength  of  God  may  uphold  my  heart  and  enable 
me  to  do  something  for  His  glory  in  my  new  diocese. 

October  2. — Coed  Coch.  Rode  with  Mr.  J.  Wynne  to  moun- 
tain view.  Then  to  Liverpool  by  rail.  Mackarness  joined 
me.  Oxford  offered  to  him.  We  much  talk  :  he  means  to 
carry  everything  on  just  as  now,  &c.  I  wrote  to  reassure 
King.     Very  kindly  received  at  Mrs.  Hey  wood's. 

October  5. — Up  soon  after  6  ;  sleepless.  Wrote,  &c. 
With  Mr.  Heywood  to  Liverpool.  Congress.  Service  and 
sermon  by  Dean  of  Chester  ;  sensible  and  Christian ;  but 
poor  and  very  little  of  the  Evangel.  Only  warmed  when  he 
justified  German  theology — one  good  bit — that  the  emptying 
Christianity  of  dogma  would  perish  it,  like  Charlemagne's  face 
when  exhumed. 

On  the  7th  the  Bishop  was  again  at  the  Liverpool 
Congress,  speaking  at  the  working-men's  meeting,  hi 
the  course  of  his  speech  he  said  that  if  he  wanted 
working  men  to  join  with  him  in  worshipping  God  in 
unity  of  spirit,  It  was  : — 

That  the  Church  of  the  Redeemer  in  this  Christian 
land  may  have  the  working  of  that  Spirit  which  dwells,  not  in 
the  clergy,  but  in  the  whole  body  of  the  faithful,  that  it  may 
have  that  Spirit  not  checked  by  our  divisions  and  our  coldness, 
but  that  it  may  have  the  whole  body  livingly  pervaded  by 
that  life-giving  Spirit,  so  that  we  may  all  live  as  one  in 
Christ.  I  need  not  tell  you  that  is  not  the  case  at  present, 
and  I  do  not  think  the  fault  is  yours  only — it  is  the  fault  also 
of  those  above  you  in  the  natural  gifts  of  this  life,  and,  above 


1869.  LIVERPOOL   CONGRESS.  311 

all,  of  us  the  clergy.  I  think  that  we  have  been  in  times  past 
very  careless  ;  I  think  that  we  have  looked  upon  the  clerical 
life  too  much  as  a  profession — I  hate  the  name.  We  are 
merely  office-bearers  in  the  one  body  pervaded  by  the  Spirit 
— bearing  that  office  not  for  our  own  sakes,  but  for  yours. 
Therefore  I  say  that  the  one  thing  I  desire  to  see  coming  out 
of  such  a  conclave  as  this  to-night,  and  out  of  all  the  gather- 
ings held  in  this  room,  is  the  admission  of  this,  that  we  are 
one  in  Jesus  Christ,  that  our  differences  are  infinitesimal  to 
every  man  who  has  learned  to  love  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ 
with  all  his  heart  and  to  see  that  the  one  object  of  living  is 
to  have  His  life  pervading  our  life  by  the  Spirit  of  God. 

October  19. — Reading.  After  breakfast,  consecration  of 
St.  Barnabas  (Oxford).  Disagreeable  service.  Acolyte  run- 
ning about.  Paste  squares  for  bread,  &c. — but  the  church  a 
great  gift.  To  Reading.  Dined  with  Archbishop  Laud's 
trustees,  and  slept  at  Cust's. 

October  30. — Latimers.  Morning  much  writing  '  Samuel,'  ^ 
and  letters.  To  Chesham  Waterside.  Preached  for  hospital 
on  '  Weep  with.'  All  very  kind  and  sympathising.  Opened 
Hospital.  Luncheon  and  spoke.  In  carriage  sent  by  Lord 
Chesham  to  Slough.  Mayor  of  Windsor  there  and  cordial, 
and  so  down  to  Reading. 

November  i. — Reading.  Set  to  work  at  Charge.  To 
church  and  preached  at  St.  Mary's  on  '  Out  of  weakness.' 
By  rail  to  Aldershot,  where  John  Sumner  very  kind.  Went 
and  saw  Bishop  Sumner ;  after  first  nervousness  his  own 
look.  Walked  with  him,  and  dined,  he  very  cordial.  Here 
came  I  to  this  very  room  with  Emily  in  1836. 

November  5. — Uppark.  Letters  and  Charge.  Lord 
Stratford  said  :  '  Duke  of  Wellington  early  learning  never  to 
trust  to  anyone  else  doing  anything.'  Lesson  for  me  now 
at  Winchester. 

On  November  2  the  Bishop  writes  to  his  son 
Ernest : — 

We  are  hard  all  at  Ritual  Commission,  so  forgive  a  certain 

"  For  Good  Words. 


3 1  2  LIFE   OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.         chap.  xi. 

abruptness  of  writing,  I  send  you  by  this  book-post  to-day 
a  very  interesting  conspectus  of  the  diocese  of  Winchester 
...  it  makes  me  almost  shudder  to  think  of  having  the 
spiritual  charge  of  such  a  body. 

By  the  Bishop's  desire,  the  formal  translation  to 
Winchester  was  postponed  to  November,  in  order  tliat 
he  might  deliver  his  triennial  Charge.  In  this  farewell 
Charge  the  Bishop  reviewed  his  episcopate  of  nearly 
a  quarter  of  a  century  in  the  Diocese  of  Oxford. 
The  Charge  set  forth  in  detail  the  various  organisations 
which  had  been  called  into  existence  and  showed  the 
progress  which  the)'  had  made.  The  answers  to  a 
new  set  of  questions  enabled  the  Bishop  to  give  the 
amount  of  money  which  had  been  raised  in  this  purely 
agricultural  diocese,  for  building,  restoring  and  endow- 
ing churches,  schools,  and  Houses  of  Mercy  since 
1845,  which  reached  a  total  of  2,120,552/.  /j.  3</. 
The  Charge  also  dealt  with  the  leading  Church 
questions.  The  farewell  to  the  diocese  is  given  in 
the  Bishop's  own  words  : — 

Over  these  twenty-five  years,  my  brethren,  you  will,  I 
think,  readily  understand  that  I  cannot  on  this  occasion  of 
our  meeting  thus  cast  back  my  eyes  without  awakening  in 
myself  conflicting  feelings  which  are  almost  too  deep  for 
utterance.  It  is  not  merely,  as  it  has  been  with  me  before, 
the  bringing  home  to  me  the  fact  that  so  large  a  part  of  my 
life  and  service  has  been  spent,  and  that  my  own  great 
account,  and  the  account  of  many  of  you  who  have  laboured 
with  me,  and  whom  I  love  so  well,  must  be  drawing  near ;  it 
is  not  only  that  I  am  reminded  that  I  have  now  occupied  this 
seat  two  years  longer  than  the  longest-lived  of  my  prede- 
cessors since  the  See  was  founded  ;  but  it  is  that  I  speak  to 
you  for  the  last  time  ;  that  my  staff  of  office  must  in  a  few 
weeks  be  broken,  and  another  take  the  charge  with  which  my 
life  has  become  one. 

It  was  not  without  the  most   anxious  doubt  that  I  as- 


1869.  THE  FAREWELL   CHARGE.  313 

sented  to  this  change,  involving  as  it  did  the  severance  of 
the  dearest  ties  and  the  undertaking  severer  labours  with 
diminished  means  for  their  performance.  But  upon  weighing 
the  whole  case  with  the  aid  of  the  best  counsel  I  could  obtain, 
I  judged  that  so  the  will  of  God  was.  I  go  back,  therefore, 
into  the  sphere  of  my  earlier  work  in  the  Church  of  Christ, 
to  find  there,  thank  God,  many  old  friends  whose  warm 
welcome  allays,  though  it  cannot  heal,  the  smart  of  separation 
from  you.  For — I  am  bound  to  say  it — I  believe  that  no 
Bishop  ever  had  more  loving  and  more  effectual  support  than 
you  have  rendered  me  in  this  diocese.  So  it  has  long  been, 
yet  ever  growing  and  increasing  as  the  years  have  run  on  ; 
and  now  my  approaching  separation  from  you  has  drawn 
forth  expressions  of  personal  affection  greater  by  far  than  I 
before  knew  to  exist,  and  declarations  of  some  good  results 
with  which  God's  mercy  has  blessed  my  poor  labours  which  at 
once  humble  and  rejoice  my  heart.  Turn  which  side  I  may, 
I  have  but  the  same  words  to  say  ;  I  thank  you  most  heartily 
for  your  generous  and  abundant  help  ;  to  the  Archdeacons,  to 
the  Principals  cf  Cuddesdon  and  of  Culham,  to  the  Rural 
Deans,  to  the  school  inspectors,  to  the  officers  of  our  different 
Diocesan  institutions,  lay  as  well  as  clerical,  who  have  given, 
as  an  unpaid  service,  a  zeal,  a  judgment,  and  an  untiring 
energy  in  labour  which  money  never  could  have  purchased, 
I  return  my  heartiest  thanks.  To  the  laity  of  the  diocese 
generally  I  must  say  the  sam.e  ;  they  have  through  these 
years  stood  nobly  by  their  fathers'  Church  ;  they  have  given 
us  their  money,  their  counsel,  their  confidence,  and  their 
active  support  in  ten  thousand  ways  ;  as  the  Churchwardens 
of  our  parishes  they  have  ever  helped  and  supported  me  ; 
they  have,  in  far  the  greater  number  of  instances,  received 
with  kindness,  and  carried  out  with  alacrity,  my  official  direc- 
tions ;  v/hilst  among  those  of  our  laity  to  whom  God  has 
given  this  world's  wealth,  there  have  been  some  who  have 
built  for  us  noble  churches,  and  contributed  witli  a  magnifi- 
cent generosity  to  their  endowment  and  to  all  our  diocesan 
works.  To  me  personally,  as  their  I^ishop,  they  have  shown 
a  loving  kindness  which,  whilst  I  live,  I  can  never  forget  ; 
suffering,  in  very  many  instances,  official  ties  to  turn  into  the 


314  ^^P^   OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.        chap.  xi. 

golden  bands  of  generous  friendship  and  Christian  affection  ; 
so  that  in  very  many  times  of  trial  I  may  say  with  the  great 
Apostle, '  I  have  had  great  joy  and  consolation  in  their  love.' ' 

And  if  it  has  been  thus  with  the  laity  of  the  diocese, 
how,  my  brethren  of  the  clergy,  can  I  thank  you  enough  for 
all  your  goodness  towards  me,  your  ready  acceptance  of 
all  official  requirements,  your  abundance  in  labour,  your  un- 
wearied ness  in  love  }  How  differently,  thank  God,  can  I 
speak  as  to  my  experience  in  this  diocese  from  that  which 
was  the  heavy  burden  of  the  great  Apostle  of  the  Gentiles, 
when  in  bonds  and  imprisonment  the  sorest  of  his  earthly 
trials  was  the  sense  of  loneliness  and  desertion  breathed  out 
in  those  touching  v/ords,  '  These  only  are  my  fellow  workers 
unto  the  kingdom  of  God,  who  have  been  a  comfort  unto  me.' 

.  .  .  Unto  His  good  keeping,  by  whom  I  have  been  for  a 
season  set  over  you  in  the  Lord  I  solemnly  commend  you,  and, 
as  one  who  knows  his  own  utter  weakness  and  deep  unworthi- 
ness,  I  beseech  you  to  offer  up  to  our  God  your  prayers  and 
supplications  for  me  when  I  am  parted  from  you,  as  you  have 
done  when  I  was  present  with  you.  For  those  prayers,  for  all 
the  kindness,  forbearance,  confidence,  help,  and  love  which 
for  four-and-twenty  years  you  have  given  me  I  once  again 
thank  you  heartily  in  the  Lord.  May  He  reward  you  for  it. 
May  He  make  His  grace  to  abound  more  and  more  toward 
you  and  minister  to  you  in  His  good  time  an  abundant 
entrance  into  His  everlasting  kingdom.  The  last  word  almost 
refuses  to  be  spoken,  but,  Brethren  of  the  Clergy,  Brethren  of 
the  Laity,  I  bid  you  in  Christ's  name  farewell  in  the  Lord. 

A  valedictory  address  was  presented  to  the  Bishop 
from  the  clergy  of  the  diocese  on  November  1 1,  in  the 
Hall  of  All  Souls'  College,  Oxford:— 

We  the  undersigned  clergy  of  your  Lordship's  diocese 
of  Oxford  have  learnt  with  unfeigned  sorrow  that  your  Lord- 
ship's long  and  much  valued  administration  of  the  affairs  of 
this  diocese  will  within  a  few  weeks  from  this  day  come  to 
an  end. 

We  are  sensible  that  the  offer  made  to  you  of  a  formal 

'  Ep.  to  Philemon. 


1869.  VALEDICTORY  ADDRESS.  315 

recommendation  of  your  Lordship's  name  for  election  as 
future  Bishop  of  the  See  of  Winchester  is  but  a  just  apprecia- 
tion on  the  part  of  Her  Majesty  the  Queen  of  the  effectual 
rule  which  your  Lordship  has  exercised  over  us  during 
twenty-four  years  of  incessant  watchfulness  and  active  labour. 
At  the  same  time  we  cannot  disguise  our  deep  regret  that 
an  episcopate  such  as  your  Lordship's,  during  which  so  much 
hearty,  earnest  and  intelligent  vigour  has  been  exhibited, 
and  so  much  permanent  good  fruit  produced,  should  deter- 
mine while  your  Lordship  is  blessed  with  health  and  energies 
to  continue  among  us  the  great  works  which,  under  the 
blessing  of  God  upon  your  most  constant  labours,  you  have 
begun  and  lived  to  see  so  well  and  so  fully  established. 

We  with  sorrow  bid  your  Lordship  farewell.  We  are 
conscious  that  your  able  government  has  earned  for  this 
diocese  a  reputation  recognised  not  only  in  our  own  province 
but  in  England  generally  and  throughout  our  gracious 
Sovereign's  dominions  and  a  name  held  in  estimation  in  the 
Church  of  the  United  States  of  America. 

May  God  grant  to  you  to  find  in  your  new  weighty  sphere 
of  duty  the  same  hearty  co-operation  of  the  clergy  and  of  the 
laity  which  your  affectionate,  considerate  and  judicious  course 
among  us  has  justly  won. 

Lastly,  for  ourselves,  as  we  do  not  presume  to  ask  for  a 
reconsideration  of  your  Lordship's  decision,  it  remains  for  us 
to  assure  your  Lordship  that  your  Lordship's  sympathy  with 
each  one  of  us  in  his  separate  difficulties,  together  with  your 
Lordship's  wise  and  earnest  counsels,  have  taught  us  so  to 
esteem  the  office  which  your  Lordship  is  holding  that,  apart 
from  other  considerations  of  deepest  moment,  our  reception 
of  your  Lordship's  successor  will  be  such  as  becomes  a  body 
of  clergy  led  by  a  spirit  of  unity  among  themselves  and  by 
a  desire  to  uphold  ecclesiastical  authority  in  the  diocese  and, 
far  above  all,  by  a  faithful  and  devoted  love  to  Him  who,  by 
His  servants  the  Bishops,  rules  His  Church,  being  Himself 
the  Head  of  all,  God  blessed  for  evermore  ! 

The  Bishop  returned  the  following  answer  to  the 
address  : — 


3l6  LIFE  OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.         chap.  xr. 

Rev.  Brethren, — I  thank  you  from  the  bottom  of  my 
heart  for  your  loving  address. 

It  is  with  great  sorrow  that  I  return  your  farewell.  I 
should  have  been  rejoiced  to  end  my  days  in  working  with  a 
body  of  clergy  whose  fidelity,  zeal,  love  of  souls,  and  devotion 
to  Christ  and  to  the  best  interests  of  His  kingdom,  as  well  as 
whose  affectionate  loyalty  to  their  Bishop,  made  oversight 
easy  and  united  labour  a  joy. 

But  the  Voice  seemed  to  me  to  call  me  away  and  I  go. 

To  God  be  all  the  praise  for  any  good  done  in  this  diocese 
during  my  episcopate  ;  I  can  see  in  the  retrospect  little  save 
my  own  shortcomings. 

I  very  earnestly  ask  you  to  continue  the  prayers  you 
promise  to  offer  up  for  me  in  my  new  sphere  of  labour. 

God  forbid  that  I  should  cease  to  pray  for  you,  and  so 
the  mysterious  bonds  which  link  together  the  Church  of 
Christ  may  yet  be  strengthened  between  us,  even  when  it  is 
not  given  us  to  labour  together  in  bodily  presence. 

I  thank  you  for  the  love,  support,  and  co-operation  of 
twenty-four  years. 

I  pray  God  to  bless  you  one  and  all  in  your  own  souls,  in 
your  families,  and  in  your  parishes,  and  to  grant  us  a  joyful 
meeting  for  Christ's  sake,  by  the  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  in 
the  day  of  our  Lord's  appearing. 

Tlic  Right  Hon.  W.  E.  Gladstone  to  tJiP 
Bishop  of  Oxford. 

November  20,  1869. 

My  dear  Bishop  of  Oxford, — One  extorted  word  to  say 
I  have  seldom  read  anything  with  more  pleasure  or  more 
emotion  than  the  address  to  you  from  the  clergy  of  your  now 
vanishing  diocese  and  your  reply. 

You  have  not  known  me  as  a  flatterer,  and  so  I  the  more 
freely  say  it  makes  the  heart  bound  to  feel  that  even  in  this 
poor  world  truth  and  justice  sometimes  claim  their  own,  and 
thank  God  it  has  not  been  in  the  power  of  jealousy  or  cowar- 
dice, or  spite,  '  or  any  other '  evil  creature  to  detract  one  jot 
from  the  glory  of  that  truly  great  episcopate,  the  records 
of  which  you   have  written  alike  in  the  visible  outward   his- 


1869.  PARTING    WITH  SORROW.  317 

tory  of  the  Church   and  in  the  fleshy  tablets  of  the  heart  of 
men. 

May  the  undying  courage  with  which  you  now  gird  your- 
self for  the  work  elsewhere  feed  you  with  the  bodily  strength 
which  I  am  well  assured  is  the  only  quality  for  it  that  can 
ever  fail  you. 

I  wish  I  had  been  an  Oxford  clergyman  qualified  to  sign.''^ 
Do  not  write.     But  when  you  chance  to  have  occasion,  I 
shall  like  to  know  how  many  signed.     Affectionately  yours, 

W.  E.  Gladstone. 
To  which  the  Bishop  replied  : — 

November  30,  1869. 

My  dear  Gladstone, — Your  words  made  my  heart  warm. 
The  number  of  names  attached  to  the  address,  and  they  still 
flow  in,  is  between  700  and  800.  T  trust  indeed  that  my 
physical  strength  may  suffice  for  the  work  before  me  and 
that  God's  blessing  may  not  be  withheld.  It  is  not  the  post 
for  which,  after  so  many  years  of  labour  and  gathered  experi- 
ence, I  should  have  chosen  to  leave  Oxford. 

I  am,  ever  yours  very  affectionately, 

S.  OXON. 

The  rest  of  November  the  Bishop  spent  in  his 
diocese.  The  entries  in  his  diary  show  with  what 
sorrow  he  parted  from  the  clergy  and  laity  who  had 
worked  so  heartily  with  him  for  twent)--four  years. 

November  14,  Oxford. — '  Much  leave-taking  and 
very  sad.'  November  20,  Newbury. — '  Address  from 
clergy  and  laity.  Greatly  depressed.  Dear  H. 
Majendie  all  affection  ;  he  said,  "  Astonishing  how  all 
hearts  are  open  to  you."  '  November  29,  Reading. — 
'  Farewell  meeting.      I  very  low.' 

On  December  i,  he  began  his  work  in  the  Win- 
chester diocese.  '  Confirmation  at  St.  Mar)'s,  Lambeth. 
First  officiating  and  wonderful  interest.' 

-  The  address. 


3 1 8  LIFE  OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.         chap.  xi. 

A  clerq;yman  of  the  Oxford  Diocese  sends  this 
evidence  of  the  Bishop's  private  liberality. 

'The  Bishop  heard  of  the  pecuniary  misfortunes 
which  had  fallen  upon  me,  and  from  time  to  time 
sent  me  contributions  from  his  private  purse  towards 
the  necessarily  heavy  expenses  of  my  large  family.  I 
was  never  more  surprised  in  my  life  than  when  I 
received  the  first,  as  I  had  no  idea  that  the  Bishop 
knew  of  my  circumstances.  No  less  than  nine  different 
occasions  did  he  act  thus  kindly,  and  such  letters  they 
w^ere,  rather  as  if  I  were  doing  him  a  favour  in  accept- 
ing than  he  one  in  contributing.  From  first  to  last  he 
sent  me  some  70/.  But  what  I  thought  was  so  very 
kind  was  the  remembrance  of  me  in  the  letter  I  forward. 
Writing  from  Windsor  Castle — just  after  he  had  done 
homage,  I  believe,  for  the  See  of  Winchester,  with  all 
the  pressure  of  business  on  his  mind  in  taking  posses- 
sion of  his  new  See  and  arranging  to  give  up  entirely  his 
old — that  he  should  have  thought  of  one  who  is  a  mere 
ordinary  parish  priest  with  no  name  in  the  world,  and 
then  and  there  sent  a  parting  gift  in  the  kindly  ex- 
pressed manner  that  his  letter  conveys,  seemed  to  me 
a  very  great  mark  of  his  loving  heart.' 

The  letter  referred  to  is  given  : — 

Windsor  Castle,  December  13,  1869. 

My  dear , — Let  me  once  again  ask  you  to  let  me 

contribute,  in  parting  from  you,  this  towards  Christmas  ex- 
penses.    I  am,  ever  yours, 

S.  WiNTON. 

And  in  sending  aid  to  a  curate  in  the  diocese  the 
Bishop  thus  expresses  himself: — 

As  you  mention  in  your  note  the  coming  of  another  child, 
and  I  know  that  such  times  are  times  of  increased  expense, 
I  hope  you  will  allow  me  to  consider  my  titleof  Father  in  God 


1869.  APPOINTMENT  OF  DR.    TEMPLE.  319 

as  more  than  merely  nominal,  and  as  a  father  to  a  son  I  ask 
you  to  let  me  send  the  enclosed  aid  for  the  day  of  need. 

December  11. — At  10.15  Ernest  and  Sir  C.  Anderson 
came  to  go  to  Bow,  where  confirmed.  Ceremony  not  affect- 
ing—rather grotesque.  Then  to  British  Museum  and  with 
Ministers  to  Windsor  Castle.  Talk  with  Lord  Stratford — 
Bruce  and  De  Grey  chiefly.  Did  homage  and  then  invested. 
Wrote  till  dinner  :  chiefly  '  David.' ^ 

A  very  different  confirmation  in  Bow  Church  from 
the  one  mentioned  above  had  taken  place  a  short  time 
before,  when  the  appointment  of  Dr.  Temple  to  the 
See  of  Exeter  was  confirmed.  As  this  appointment 
caused  great  excitement  at  the  time,  it  is  necessary  to 
allude  shortly  to  it. 

Under  the  Bishops'  Resignation  Act,  Dr.  Phillpotts, 
the  aged  Bishop  of  Exeter,  resigned  his  see,  and  Mr. 
Gladstone  nominated  the  Rev.  F.  Temple,  head- 
master of  Rugby  School,  as  his  successor.  This 
nomination  evoked  a  storm  of  letters  in  the  Church 
papers  and  led  to  the  formation  of  a  Committee  to 
resist,  if  possible,  Dr.  Temple's  appointment.  Of  this 
Committee  Lord  Shaftesbury  was  chairman  and  Dr. 
Pusey  vice-chairman,  the  whole  gravamen  of  the 
charge  against  Dr.  Temple  was  that  he  was  one  of 
the  writers  In  '  Essays  and  Reviews,'  which  had  been 
synodically  condemned  by  Convocation.  As  far  as 
Dr.  Temple  was  concerned,  no  one  had  Impugned  the 
orthodoxy  of  his  particular  essa)-,  and  It  was  only 
because  the  same  outside  cover  embraced  It  as  well  as 
the  other  essays,  that  for  once  Lord  Shaftesbury  and 
Dr.  Pusey,  separated  In  everything  else,  were  found 
standing  side  by  side,  facing,  as  they  believed,  the 
common  enemy. 

Bishop  Wilberforce,  who  had  ordained  Dr.  Temple 

^  For  Good  ll'on/s. 


320  LIFE   OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.         chap.  xi. 

both  Deacon  and  Priest,  was  personally  satisfied  with 
the  orthodoxy  of  his  opinions,  but  felt  that,  as  long  as 
his  essay  remained  in  the  condemned  work,  so  longw-as 
he,  the  writer,  in  a  manner  under  the  censure  of  Con- 
vocation, therefore  the  Bishop  refused  to  be  on  the 
Commission  for  Dr.  Temple's  consecration ;  if  Dr. 
Temple  had  then  done  what  he  afterwards  did  in 
Convocation,  i.e.  separated  himself  from  the  other 
writers,  the  Bishop's  course  would  have  been  dif- 
ferent. 

The  enthronement  in  Winchester  Cathedral  took 
place  on  Thursday,  December  i6,  and  this  chapter 
may  well  end  with  Dr.  Monsell's  beautiful  lines  which 
were  written  for  the  occasion  : — 

Silence  in  the  Great  Cathedral. 

There  was  silence  deep  and  earnest, 

By  the  wondering  people  made, 
Silence  in  the  great  cathedral 

As  those  thousands  knelt  and  prayed. 
Prayed,  while  he,  in  God  their  father, 

Rapt  in  adoration  there, 
Low  before  the  holy  altar 

Made  his  offering  and  his  prayer. 

Years  had  passed  since  at  that  altar 

He,  with  youth's  best  joys  replete. 
All  his  life's  most  precious  ointment 

Poured  out  at  his  Saviour's  feet ;' 
Poured  out  of  the  broken  vessel 

Of  a  heart  bow'd  down  but  brave 
That  thenceforth  its  whole  devotion 

To  a  life  of  duty  gave. 

How  that  life  hath  kept  the  j^romise 

Made  in  secret  suffering  there, 
Witness  now  those  kneeling  thousands 

In  that  fellowship  of  prayer  ; 

*  It  will  be  remembered  that  Mrs.  Wilberforce  died  at  Winchester  in  1841. 


i869.  SILENCE  IN  THE   GREAT  CATHEDRAL. 

Witness  years  of  ceaseless  toiling, 
Weary  ways  unwearied  trod, 

Never  resting,  never  tiring, 
In  the  endless  work  of  God. 

Silence  in  the  great  cathedral, 

Not  a  breath  of  whisper  stirred, 
Yet  in  Heaven  the  loud  heart-voices 
Of  those  worshippers  were  heard  : 
*  Will  to  work ' — and  strength  to  labour, 
'  Souls  to  save ' — and  Christ  their  plea  ; 
Giver  of  good  gifts  and  perfect, 
Say  Amen — and  it  shall  be. 


VOL.  III. 


LIFE   OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.        chap.  xil. 


CHAPTER   XII. 

INTRODUCTION  OF  SISTERHOODS  INTO  OXFORD  DIOCESE — LETTER  TO  MR. 
BUTLER — WANTAGE  SISTERHOOD— CLEWER  SISTERHOOD— LETTER  TO  THE 
SUPERIOR — THE  CHAPLAIN — THE  SISTERS  —  PERPETUAL  VOWS— SPEECH 
AT  THE  CHURCH  CONGRESS,  l862— SISTERHOOD  IN  WINCHESTER  DIOCESE 
— STATUTES   APPROVED   RY   THE   P.ISHOP. 

No  part  of  the  Bishop's  administration  of  the  diocese 
of  Oxford  was  more  remarkable  than  his  deahngs  with 
Sisterhoods.  Sisterhoods  have  now  become  so  in- 
tegral and  so  important  a  portion  of  the  machinery  of 
the  Church  that  it  is  difficult  to  recall  the  extreme 
jealousy  and  suspicion  which  attended  their  revival. 
It  is  easy  to  trace  in  the  support  which  the  Bishop 
gave  to  their  first  beginnings  the  same  wise  and  far- 
seeing  mind  as  directed  those  steps  by  which  the 
action  of  Convocation  w^as  recovered  to  the  Church. 

In  order  to  understand  the  Bishop's  line  of  thought 
on  this  subject  it  will  be  necessary  to  look  back  to  1848. 
An  attempt  was  then  made  to  found  a  Sisterhood  at 
Wantage,  the  first  in  the  diocese — which  now  possesses 
two  others  at  Oxford,  and  the  large  and  Important 
community  at  Clewer.  A  few  months  previously.  Miss 
Sellon  had  laid  the  foundations  of  the  Devonport 
Sisterhood.  This  had  been  unfavourably  received. 
There  had  been  a  burst  of  popular  indignation,  some- 
what perhaps  stimulated  by  certain  peculiarities  in 
Miss  Sellon's  management,  which  went  far  towards 
discouraging  any  similar  attempts,  and  it  was  exactly 
here  that  the  Bishop's  courage  and  ready  perception 


1849-  WANTAGE  SISTERHOOD.  323 

of  what  the  Church  required  was  so  strikingly  shown. 
He  saw  the  importance  of  the  proposed  work,  and  he 
was  wilHng  for  the  sake  of  this  to  face  the  kind  of 
ignorant  outcry  which  was  almost  sure  to  follow. 

The  Sisterhood  of  Wantage  was  begun  by  a  lady 
of  much  ability,  devotion,  and  zeal,  possessed  moreover 
of  a  fair  fortune.  She  proposed  to  settle  with  two 
like-minded  friends  in  Wantage,  and  to  devote  herself 
and  her  means  to  the  life  of  a  Sister  of  Mercy  in  the 
Church  of  England.  The  Bishop,  who  was  imme- 
diately consulted  as  to  the  system  to  be  followed  and 
particularly  as  to  the  Chaplain  for  such  an  institution, 
replied  as  follows  : — 

The  Bishop  of  Oxford  to  the  Rev.  TV.  Butler. 

Cuddesdon  Palace,  Dec.  29,  1849. 

My   dear  Butler, — The  questions   you  asked  me  about 

Miss  L 's  establishment  were  hardly  definite  enough  for 

me  to  answer.  I  should  like  much  to  have  a  general  scheme 
of  the  institution  and  a  general  outline  of  the  proposed  rules 
and  regulations,  &c.,  and  then  would  gladly  make  any  sug- 
gestions which  occurred  to  me  if  they  are  desired.     I  do  not 

know  enough  of to  venture  an  opinion  as  to  his  fitness 

for  a  post  requiring  such  peculiar  gifts  and  such  various 
graces  for  a  man's  usefulness  to  others  and  safety  to  himself. 
It  needs,  of  course,  great  uprightness,  tenderness,  judgment, 
skill  in  dealing  with  souls,  firmness,  and  patience,  and  all 
growing  out  of  an  ardent  love  for  Christ.  I  quite  .should  wish 
for  a  domestic  chapel  in  such  an  establishment.  I  have  the 
deepest  interest  in  its  welfare,  and  would  do  anything  in  my 
power  to   help  its  progress.     Believe  me  to  be  affectionately 

y^"'"^'  s.  oxoN. 

The  Sisterhood  began  its  labours  by  endeavouring 
to  receive  and  reclaim  fallen  women,  a  work  which 
in  conjunction  with  many  others,  it  still  retains. 
For  this  purpose  a  house  was  obtained — and  a  chapel 


324  J^'JF^   OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.        chap.  xii. 

with  a  communion  table  was  licensed — six  penitents 
were  received  as  a  first  instalment,  and  for  a  time,  with 
the  Bishop's  hearty  and  generous  superintendence,  all 
went  well. 

Then,  however,  came  exactly  one  of  those  trials 
which  would  have  paralysed  and  frightened  into  an- 
tagonism, or  at  least  into  withdrawal  of  support,  any 
man  of  less  courage  and  clear  sight.     Urged  by  her 

near  relations.  Miss  L joined  the  Church  of  Rome, 

ostensibly  on  account  of  the  Gorham  judgment.  The 
crisis  was  most  serious.  A  work  from  the  first  sus- 
pected seemed  to  have  fulfilled  the  worst  prognostica- 
tions of  its  opponents.  The  Bishop  at  once  went  to 
Wantage,  entered  into  the  whole  matter,  and  by  his 
wonderful  energy  and  resource  saved  the  infant  com- 
munity. 

From  this  time  the  Bishop  took  a  most  active  part 
in  all  that  concerned  the  communities  of  Sisters  in  his 
diocese,  and  especially  the  House  of  Mercy  at  Clewer 
under  the  Rev.  T.  T.  Carter.  With  the  Wantage 
Sisterhood  the  Bishop  had  little  trouble ;  he  and  Mr. 
Butler  were  much  of  one  mind  as  to  how  such  a 
house  should  be  managed.  Writing  on  Feb.  29, 
1856,  the  Bishop  says  to  Mr.  Butler:  'I  entirely  2i^- 
prove  and  agree  absolutely  in  your  view  of  what  a 
Sisterhood  must  be  to  succeed  in  our  Church.  May 
God  give  you  good  success  in  dealing  with  this  dif- 
ficult case.'  ^ 

The  House  of  Mercy  at  Clewer  began  its  existence 
in  1852  ;  before  then  it  had  been  a  Penitentiary,  but 
in  that  year  it  became  a  House  of  Mercy,  consist- 
ing of  a  Superior  and  admitted  Sisters.  Two  years 
after,  certain  questions  arose  as  to  the  practice  by  the 

*  For  the  foregoing  account  I  am  indebted  to  the  Rev.  W.  Butler,  formerly 
Vicar  of  Wantage,  and  now  Canon  of  Worcester. 


1854.  THE  RIGHT  SYSTEM.  325 

Sisters  of  habitual  confession.  The  three  letters 
which  follow  show  how  the  Bishop  regarded  the 
use  of  private  confession,  even  when  associated  with  a 
so-called  religious  life  ;  but  they  are  more  important  as 
eliciting  from  the  Bishop  what  his  views  were  as  to  the 
internal  management  of  such  institutions. 


& 


The  Bishop  of  Oxford  to  Mrs. . 

May,  1854. 

My  dear  Mrs. ,  I  will   endeavour    to    put    down,  as 

you  desire,  an  outline  of  what  I  said  to  you  at  Windsor  about 
the  principles  on  which  the  house  at  Clewer  must  be  con- 
ducted while  I  am  connected  with  it.  We  agreed,  I  think, 
that  there  are  three  distinct  schemes  on  which  it  might  be 
managed.  There  is,  I.,  the  scheme  of  those  who  would 
bring  all  our  arrangements  into  as  close  an  agreement  as  is 
possible  with  those  of  the  Church  of  Rome.  There  is,  II.,  that  of 
those  who,  with  less  direct  esteem  for  Rome,  yet  distinctly 
desire  something  dilTerent  from  the  Reformed  Church  of 
England,  who  wish  to  recover  things  she  cast  aside  and  to 
cast  away  things  which  she  retained  at  the  Reformation,  and 
who  would  term  this  imaginary  system  the  Catholic  system. 
There  is,  III.,  the  scheme  of  those  who  believe  firmly  and 
honestly  that  the  system  of  the  Reformed  Church  of  England, 
as  they  find  it  in  Bishop  Andrewes,  Rd.  Hooker,  and  many 
more  of  like  views  with  them,  is  the  right  system,  is  the 
Catholic  system  ;  who  desire  to  bring  out  into  life  and  reality 
and  action  its  principles  and  powers,  and  to  abide  by  it  when 
so  administered,  and  not  to  develop  anything  diff'erent  from 
itself.  Now,  it  is  on  this  third  scheme,  honestly,  heartily  and 
completely  adopted  and  maintained  that  I  can,  and  on  this 
alone  that  I  can,  have  any  share  in  organising  and  promoting 
sisterhoods.  If  they  will  not  work  on  this  scheme  it  would 
be  to  my  mind  a  proof  that  they  would  not  work  safely  or 
profitably  and  accordingly  I  should  decline  further  connec- 
tion with  them.  To  apply,  then,  this  general  principle  to  the 
subjects  which  have  come  into  any  question  at  Clewer,  I 
would  say  that,  as  to  the  whole  management  of  the  house,  it 
must  be  thus  strictly  and  entirely  Church  of  England.     For 


326  LIFE  OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.        chap.  xil. 

instance,  our  services,  when  they  vary  from  our  Church's 
authorised  forms  of  public  prayer,  must  be  altogether  in  their 
spirit.  The  books  we  allow  to  be  in  common  use,  the 
religious  prints,  &c.,  we  place  in  the  rooms,  or  allow  to  be 
worn  on  the  person  openly,  must  be  thoroughly  Church  of 
England  ;  the  provision  we  make  for  the  spiritual  teaching 
of  sisters  and  penitents  must  be  prescribed  by  the  same 
rule.  Thus,  as  to  the  disputed  question  of  Confession,  we 
must  make  provision  that  those  whose  consciences  are 
burdened  with  any  weighty  matter  may  be  able,  before  com- 
municating, to  open  their  grief  to  some  discreet  minister  of 
God's  Word  and  Sacraments,  that  by  his  ministry  they  may 
receive  the  benefit  of  absolution,  together  with  ghostly  counsel 
and  advice.  But  we  must  not  provide  that  what  the  Church 
of  England  so  manifestly  treats  as  an  occasional  remedy  for 
exceptional  cases  should  become  the  established  rule  of  their 
ordinary  spiritual  life.  But  here  I  must  point  out  to  you 
what  appears  to  me  a  most  important  difference  between 
what  we  provide  and  enjoin  and  what  we  allow  or  do  not 
forbid.  We  must  provide  and  enjoin  what  we  consider  to  be 
in  strict  accordance  with  the  mind  of  the  Church  of  England; 
but  as  one  of  her  leading  principles  is  to  leave  a  large  liberty 
to  the  individual  conscience,  we  shall  be  acting  according  to 
her  teaching  if,  whilst  we  endeavour  to  lead  her  children  to 
what  we  believe  to  be  her  mind,  we  do  not  exclude  them 
from  useful  and  beneficial  employment  because  they  have  not 
attained  to  it.  Thus  I  suppose  that  such  a  life  as  that  of  the 
sisters  at  Clewer  is  likely  specially  to  attract  those  whose  own 
religious  life  is  framed  on  the  second  of  the  schemes  I  have 
above  described,  who  would  desire  and  probably  have 
practised  constant  confession,  who  would  wish  to  submit 
their  lives  to  the  direction  of  a  priest,  who  would  crave 
after  books  of  Roman  Catholic  devotion,  simple  or  adapted, 
and  who  would  probably  desire  to  wear  and  see  cruci- 
fixes and  the  like.  How,  then,  are  such  persons  to  be 
treated  by  us  ?  First,  We  cannot  provide  for  such  a  life, 
because  we  disapprove  of  it.  Secondly,  We  cannot  suffer  it  to 
be  led  as  a  part  of  the  common  life  of  our  Sisterhood,  so  as  to 
give  really  its  colour  to  our   institution.     We   cannot,   e.g.y 


i8S4.  CHRISTIAN  LIBERTY.  327 

allow  the  sisters  to  practise  continual  confession  to,  or  erect 
into  directors,  the  Warden  or  chaplains  of  our  house.  Nor 
can  we  allow  them  to  use  amongst  their  sisters,  still  less  to 
lend  to  them,  Roman  Catholic  books  ;  or  to  wear  openly,  or 
exhibit  in  their  rooms,  images  or  representations  which  the 
Church  of  England  discourages  ;  nor  can  we  allow  them  to 
be  visited  in  the  house  by  other  clergy  than  those  of  our 
house  for  the  carrying  out  by  their  means  of  any  system 
which  we  do  not  administer  through  our  own  clergy.  Further, 
we  should,  if  we  have  reason  to  believe  that  their  own 
religious  life  is  formed  upon  another  and,  as  Ave  believe,  a 
less  sound  model,  endeavour  to  win  them  from  it  to  what  we 
esteem  a  more  excellent  way — showing  them  the  great  dangers 
of  morbid  excitement,  of  superstition,  of  weakening  the  con- 
science by  relying  on  others  for  what  it  ought  to  do,  of  self- 
exaltation,  which,  as  we  believe,  render  their  system  so 
perilous.  But  here  we  must  stop.  Our  own  principles  seem 
to  me  to  forbid  our  abridging  their  Christian  liberty  or 
inquiring  inquisitorially  into  its  use  (provided  only  that  they 
do  not  impart  that  of  which  we  disapprove  by  act  or  word  to 
others)  until  they  of  their  own  accord  abandon  them  ;  we 
must,  in  like  manner,  not  attempt  to  bind  them,  during  their 
allowed  absences  from  the  house,  not  to  consult  what  spiritual 
advisers  they  choose,  in  their  own  way,  as  to  their  own 
personal  concerns.  If  on  these  terms  persons  so  minded  are 
willing  to  stay  and  work  with  us,  I  would  no  more  exclude 
them  than  I  would  alter  our  own  rules  or  plans  in  order  to 
assist  them  in  leading  the  life  from  which  we  hope  to  draw 
them  into  what  we  believe  to  be  healthier  and  more  sober. 
You  will  understand  that  no  alteration  is  to  be  made  in  our 
rule,  but  I  speak  throughout  of  the  way  in  which  you  are  to 
enforce  it.  I  believe  that  the  mixture  of  a  Church  of  England 
rule,  honestly  administered,  with  a  faithful  abstinence  from 
every  vestige  of  persecution  will  enable  y^u  to  discharge 
the  difficult  task  to  which,  I  believe,  God's  providence  has 
called  you.     I  am  ever  most  sincerely  yours,         q  hyom 


328  LIFE  OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.       chap.  xir. 


The  Bishop  of  Oxford  to  the  Rev,  T.  T.  Cartel". 

May  18,  1S54. 

My  dear  Carter, — You  have,  of  course,  seen   my  letter 

to  Mrs. and  you  probably  know  that  I  have  seen  her 

to-day.  After  such  thought  as  I  have  been  able  to  give  to 
the  subject,  I  am  convinced  that  I  had  better  write  to  the 
sisters  a  distinct  statement  of  my  views  and  get  you  to  put 
it  into  their  hands.  I  am  clear  that  it  is  a  first  duty  to  this 
great  cause  to  see  that  there  is  no  mistake  as  to  the  principles 
on  which  it  is  conducted  by  us.  Now,  I  see  plainly  that 
Clewer  has  a  tendency  to  run  into  a  system  with  which  I  can 
have  nothing  to  do  ;  and  I  am  clear  that  plain  speaking  is 
the  right  course.  If  Sisterhoods  cannot  be  maintained  except 
upon  a  semi-Romanist  scheme,  with  its  direction,  with  its 
development  of  self-consciousness  and  morbid  religious 
affection,  with  its  exaltation  of  the  contemplative  life,  its 
perpetual  Confession,  and  its  un-English  tone,  I  am  perfectly 
convinced  that  we  had  better  have  no  Sisterhoods.  I  may 
be  quite  wrong  in  my  view,  but  it  is  at  present  a  clear,  strong, 
determined  view,  and  so  long  as  it  is  my  view  I  can  have 
nothing  to  do  with  any  establishment  which,  instead  of  em- 
bodying that,  embodies  something  very  like  its  opposite. 
Now,  my  dear  friend,  I  fear  that  the  change  of  mind  of  which 
you  spoke  in  your  long  letter  to  me  is  a  change  from  my 
position  to  that  which  I  cannot  take.  Now,  if  your  views  are 
so  determined  that  we  cannot  conscientiously  act  together, 
let  us  boldly  face  the  difficulty,  and  either  one  of  us  convince 
the  other,  or  else  let  me  retire  and  leave  you  to  carry  on 
Clewer  as  you  will.  But  if  I  remain  I  viiist  be  assured  that 
what  I  believe  to  be  my  duty  to  God  and  to  His  Church  is 
faithfully  and  completely  carried  out.  You  in7ist  not  let  the 
soft  influence  of  the  women's  souls  with  which  you  have  to 
deal  lead  you  into  becoming  a  director.  You  must  with  me 
distinctly  act,  and  say  that  Clewer  is  to  be  Church  of  England 
and  no  more.  We  must  have  no  evasions  as  to  Roman 
Catholic  books,  as  to  going  at  stated  times  to  Richards  and 
Pusey,  &c.     Evasion  seems  to  me  the  very  clinging  curse  of 


1854.  LETTER   TO  SISTERS.  3:9 

everything  Roman    and   Romanistic.      I  am  ever,  my  dear 
Carter,  most  truly  your  very  affectionate 

S.  OXON. 

To  the  Superior  and  Sisters  of  the  House  of  Mercy 
at  Clewer. 

London  :  Ascension  Day,  1854. 

Dearly  belovedjn  the  Lord, — I  do  not  like  to  dismiss  the 
questions  concerning  your  body  which  have  been  lately  before 
me  without  addressing  directly  to  yourselves,  as  a  body,  a 
few  words  of  affectionate  greeting  and  exhortation. 

May  He  who  on  this  day  ascended  up  on  high  draw  hither 
after  Him  our^hearts  and  desires  ;  may  He  shed  on  you  in 
your  labours  for  His  sake  His  abundant  gifts  of  grace. 

I  have  already  said  to  your  Superior  that,  whilst  our  rule 
at  Clewer  must  be  understood  by  all  to  be  truly  and  really 
formed  on  the  model  of  the  Church  of  England's  life  and 
teaching,  as  we  may  find  it  exemplified  in  such  as  Bishop 
Andrewes,  I  do  not  wish,  in  the  particular  application  of  that 
rule,  to  bind  the  individual  conscience  by  any  straiter  bonds 
than  those  with  which  our  Church  has  bound  it.  Points  which 
she  has  left  open  we  leave  open  in  the  individual  spiritual 
life  of  each  one  of  you.  But  our  common  life  must  be  truly 
and  honestly  arranged  by  what  you  all  well  know  to  be  in 
my  judgment  the  Church  of  England  type.  I  do  not  enter 
on  the  question  whether  I  am  right  in  my  estimate ;  but, 
holding  it,  I  could  not  honestly  preside  over  a  sisterhood 
embodying  another  idea.  This  necessity  everyone  can,  I 
think,  appreciate  ;  and  I  assent  gladly  to  a  large  measure  of 
individual  liberty  being  granted  to  every  sister  as  to  the 
management  of  her  own  spiritual  life,  in  the  undoubting  con- 
fidence that  you  will  one  and  all  labour  to  maintain  with  me, 
with  all  truthfulness  and  honesty  of  word  and  act,  unaltered 
and  simple  in  your  common  life  that  which  you  know  me  to 
mean  by  the  Church  of  England's  rule,  which  will,  I  doubt 
not,  afford  you  every  aid  towards  the  perfection  of  your  own 
spiritual  being. 

Believe  me  that,  as  set  over  you  in  the  Lord,  I  shall  re- 


330  LIFE  OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.        chap.  xii. 

joice  in  every  opportunity  of  quickening  and  increasing  your 
love  and  self-devotion,  and  peace,  and  joy,  and  charity.  May 
the  blessing  of  the  Almighty,  the  Father,  the  Son,  and  the 
Holy  Ghost,  rest  upon  you  now  and  evermore.  I  am  your 
faithful  friend,  g^  q^^^^ 

What  the  Bishop  meant  by  '  individual  liberty  being 
granted  to  every  sister  as  to  the  management  of  her 
own  spiritual  life,'  is  shown  by  an  extract  from  a  letter 
to  Mr.  Butler  written  at  this  period  : — 

There  is  one  point  as  to  which  I  have  arrived  as  to  Clewer. 
It  is  that,  whilst  we  admit  no  strange  clergy  in  the  house,  we 
ask  no  questions  as  to  the  spiritual  advice  the  sisters  seek  and 
obtain  during  their  permitted  absences  from  the  house,  pro- 
vided it  concerns  only  their  own  spiritual  welfare. 

The  two  followino^  letters  were  written  to  different 
clergymen  and  are  given  as  they  show  most  clearly 
what  the  Bishop's  opinions  were  regarding  perpetual 
vows. 

The  Bishop  of  Oxford  to  the  Rev.  . 

April  14,  1850. 

My  dear  Sir, — I  have  not  till  to-day  had  time  to  read  with 
care  the  proposed  rules  of  your  proposed  Sisterhood.  I  have 
to-day  read  the  first  page  and  no  more.  For  I  am  bound  to 
say  that  I  so  utterly  disapprove  of  all  that  meets  me  on  that 
first  page  that  I  thought  it  best  to  read  no  further.  When 
I  first  met  with  such  names  as  '  professed,'  &c.,  I  trusted  that 
these  were  only  the  names  to  object  to,  and  that  this  objection 
might  easily  be  removed.  But  as  I  read  on  I  found  to  my 
great  grief  that  these  were  realities  as  well  as  names  of  evil 
sound  to  which  I  must  utterly  object.  I  object,  then,  abso- 
lutely, as  un-Christian  and  savouring  of  the  worst  evils  of  Rome, 
to  the  vows  involved  in  such  a  context  in  the  statement  as, 
'  She  is  for  ever  consecrated  to  the  service  of  her  heavenly 
Spouse.'  I  object  to  the  expression  itself  as  unwarranted  by 
God's  Word  and  savouring  of  one  of  the  most  carnal  perver- 


i8S4-  UNLAWFULNESS  OF  VOWS.  331 

sions  of  the  Church  of  Rome,  The  Scriptures  speak  of  Christ  as 
being  the  Husband  of  '  the  Church  His  Spouse,'  not  of  several 
women,  in  their  individual  Christian  being,  having  any  right 
to  regard  themselves  as  spouses  of  the  Lord.  I  am  bound, 
therefore,  in  Christian  openness,  to  say,  (i)  that  I  utterly  dis- 
approve of  these  rules,  and  protest,  in  the  name  of  Christ,  as 
the  chief  pastor  of  His  flock  in  this  diocese,  against  you  or 
any  of  my  clergy  sanctioning  their  adoption  by  any  member 
of  our  apostolical  communion.  (2)  That  I  add  my  solemn 
warning  that  such  tampering  with  the  language,  acts,  and 
temper  of  the  Church  of  Rome  in  young  women  of  our 
communion  must  tend  to  betray  them  into  infidelity  to  their 
mother  Church,  and  to  perversion  to  the  Papal  (in  this  land) 
schismatical  and  corrupt  communion.      I  am,  my  dear  Sir, 

most  sincerely  yours,  ^    _ 

"^  -^  S.  OXON. 

The  Bishop  of  Oxford  to  the  Rev. . 

Nov.  21,  1854. 

My  dear  Mr. ,    It  is  not  possible  for  me  to  read  the 

account  you  have  given  me  of  this  young  person  without  great 
interest  and  a  deep  sympathy  in  her  religious  desires. 
Gladly  would  I  strengthen  by  any  allowed  ministrations  of 
mine  such  holy  purposes  and  acts.  But  when  you  ask  me  to 
give  her  the  apostolical  benediction  on  her  '  public  resolution 
of  chastity  and  devotion  to  Christ,'  you  ask  me  to  do  what, 
with  my  sense  of  the  certain  danger  and  probable  unlawful- 
ness of  vows  which  Christ  has  not  appointed,  it  is  quite 
impossible  for  me  to  do.  Such  a  resolution  m.3,de  publicly  and 
in  appearance  and  intention  confirmed  by  a  Bishop's  act  is, 
whatever  distinction  may  be  discovered  by  an  ingenious  mind, 
really,  and  bond  fide,  a  voiv.  A  secret  resolution  can  only  bind 
a  person  sub  viodo.  But  such  a  public  and  official  engage- 
ment, if  it  means  anything,  means  that  without  the  like  sanction 
the  engagement  will  not  be  relaxed.  Now,  even  a  secret 
resolution  of  chastity,  &c.,  is  what  I  should  dissuade. 

No  one  has,  without  God's  express  appointment,  a  right,  in 
my  judgment,  to  bind  themselves  for  the  future  in  such 
matters.     Let  them  follow  the  guiding  hand  of  God  from  day 


332  LIFE   OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.       chap.  xii. 

to  day  and  rely  for  pfersevering  in  a  course  of  right  or  service 
on  His  daily  gifts  of  guiding,  enlightening,  strengthening  grace, 
and  not  on  the  strength  or  effect  of  any  past  vow  or  resolu- 
tion. As,  then,  such  a  benediction  as  you  ask  would,  in  my 
judgment,  seem  to  confirm  by  a  dangerous  vow  an  unwarranted 
resolution,  I  must  of  course,  with  real  regret,  decline  your 
request.     I  am  very  sincerely  yours,  ^   Q^rnvj 

The  letters  given  above  did  not  still  the  agitation 
for  perpetual  vows,  as  a  diary  entry  in  1 860  shows. 

November  30. — Clewer.  Early  Communion,  and  admission 
of  three  sisters — two  rejected — would  not  consent  to  altering 
rule  about  no  vows. 

Again,  writing  to  a  lady  in  1867,  the  Bishop  says  : — 

I  see  nothing  in  the  sister's  life  which  is  at  all  Roman,  if 
vows  of  perpetual  obligation  are  not  taken.  I  allow  no  such 
vows  in  any  Sisterhood  which  is  in  any  way  responsible 
to  me. 

At  the  Church  Congress  held  in  Oxford  in  1862, 
the  Bishop  thus  expresses  himself  on  this  point  : — 

It  seems  to  me  that  there  has  been  a  universal  assent  to 
this — that  there  are  great  Christian  works  to  be  done  by 
Christian  women,  for  the  love  of  Christ,  giving  themselves 
to  Him  ;  that  it  is  most  desirable  that  this  should  be  recog- 
nised and  that  there  should  be  the  shelter  of  system  and 
authority,  "as  far  as  possible,  given  to  those  who  do  so  devote 
themselves  to  that  life ;  to  the  one  the  shelter  of  authority, 
and  to  the  other  the  aid  of  system  ;  that  these  are  offerings 
acceptable  to  God,  according  to  the  mind  of  the  English 
Church,  lost  to  a  great  degree  among  us  in  time  past,  and 
for  the  revival  of  which  among  us  we  humbly  and  heartily 
thank  God.  I  think  so  far  we  are  agreed — but  if  it  were 
to  be  imagined  from  the  silence  of  any  that  those  who  were 
silent  went  on  to  approve  in  the  first  place  of  vows  of  celibacy 
being  made  for  life ;  or,  secondly,  of  the  taking  vows  of 
celibacy  for  a  fixed  time  by  those  who  give  themselves  to 


1 862.  THE    TERM  'RELIGIOUS:  333 

that  life,  I  believe  it  would  be  an  entire  mistake  of  the  meet- 
ing. I  am  bound  to  say  this,  in  order  that  there  may  be  no 
mistake  of  one  holding  the  office  God  has  given  me,  that  I 
should  not  have  felt  at  liberty  to  take  any  part  in  the  engage- 
ments of  any  Sisterhood  of  which  such  vows  formed  a  part — 
because,  firstly,  I  see  no  warrant  for  them  in  the  Word  of  God 
— and  it  would  seem  to  me  that  to  encourage  persons  to 
make  vows  for  which  there  is  no  distinct  promise  given  that 
they  should  be  able  to  keep  them  would  be  entangling  them 
in  a  yoke  of  danger  ;  secondly,  because  it  seems  to  me  that 
our  Church  has  certainly  discouraged  such  vows  ;  and  thirdly, 
because  it  seems  to  me  really  to  be  of  the  essence  of  such  a 
religious  life  that  it  should  be  continued,  not  because  in  a 
moment  of  past  fervour  a  vow  was  made,  but  because  by  a 
continual  life  of  love  that  life  is  again  and  again  freely  offered 
to  that  service  to  which  it  was  originally  dedicated.  I  feel, 
therefore,  that  I  may  venture  to  say  that,  instead  of  the  per- 
petual vows  representing  the  higher,  it  is  the  admission  of  a 
lower  standard.  ...  I  believe  that  the  abuses  of  that  life 
have  come,  first  from  the  promises  oi perpetuity,  and  secondly, 
from  the  abuse  connected  with  the  admission  of  persons 
having  property  and  being  led  to  give  that  property  up  in  a 
moment  of  excitement  to  this  purpose.  If  we  are  able  through 
God's  grace  to  keep  this  movement  from  these  and  like  faults, 
we,  and  our  children  after  us,  may  humbly  thank  God  for 
the  revival  of  this  order  amongst  us. 

One  single  word  on  the  use  of  the  term  '  religious.'  I 
confess  that  I  have  the  very  deepest  objection  in  any  way 
whatever  to  applying  the  word  '  religious '  to  such  a  life.  I 
think  it  was  adopted  at  a  time  when  the  standard  of  lay 
piety  was  very  low,  and  at  all  events,  as  no  good  seems  to 
me  to  be  got  by  the  use  of  a  word  ambiguous  at  least  in  its 
meaning,  and  which  seems  to  imply  that  God  can  be  better 
served  in  the  unmarried  Sisterhood  than  in  the  blessed  and 
holy  state  of  matrimony,  I  think  it  is  a  pity  it  should  be 
used. 

Mr.  Butler^  says  :  '  Most  tenderly  and  delicately  the 

*  The  Rev.  W.  Butler,  Canon  of  Worcester,  who,  during  the  Bishop's  epi- 


334  ^^^^   ^^  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.       chap.  xii. 

Bishop  enforced  his  opinions,  so  that  in  many  delicate 
and  compHcated  questions  we  always  felt  that,  whether 
his  mind  was  or  was  not  entirely  the  same  as  our  own, 
we  should  ever  be  sure  of  a  fair  hearing  and  of  his  desire 
to  work  with  us,  and  even  to  yield  his  own  wishes, 
except  of  course  where  principle  forbade  this.  Nothing 
could  be  kinder,  wiser,  or  more  large-hearted  than  the 
line  which  he  adopted  ;  and  it  is  certainly  not  too  much 
to  assert,  that  to  him  our  English  Sisterhoods  owe 
their  present  position  of  usefulness  and  acceptance. 
Instead  of  standing  apart  and  waiting  till  they  had 
made  their  way,  he,  with  his  characteristic  determina- 
tion to  be  the  real  sTrlo-xoTrog  or  overseer  of  all  religious 
movements  in  his  diocese,  took  the  matter  into  his  own 
hands  without  in  the  least  quenching  or  thwarting  the 
zeal  and  the  ideas  of  those  who  gave  the  first  impulse. 
At  least  once  every  year  he  visited  the  sisters,  con- 
sidered their  rules,  sometimes  spoke  to  each  sepa- 
rately, weighed  difficult  cases,  and  received  into  the 
community  those  who  had  been  elected.  Part  of  the 
profession  consisted  of  an  address,  and  none  who  were 
present  will  ever  forget  the  earnestness  and  love  with 
which  he  urged  loyalty  to  the  Church,  simplicity  of 
life,  unity  of  feeling  and  action,  and,  above  all,  the 
working  from  the  sinp-le  motive  of  the  love  of  Christ. 
On  one  occasion  he  invited  to  Cuddesdon  the  heads 
of  several  of  the  Communities,  to  consider  the  general 
question  of  Sisterhoods,  and  to  arrive  at  some  common 
principle  of  action.  Had  he  lived  till  the  present  time, 
he  would,  I  think,  have  been  surprised  at  the  results 
which  have  followed  his  loving  and  fatherly  treat- 
ment of  these  institutions,  their  gradual  acceptance 
by  the   Church — and   the   mass  of  services  of  every 

scopate  in  the  Oxford  diocese,  was  in  constant  communication  with  him  on  this 
subject. 


1 862.  RULES  FOR  SISTERHOODS.  335 

kind — missionary,  pastoral,  educational,  penitentiary, 
which  by  the  discipline  and  self-sacrifice  of  those  who 
belong  to  them — they  are  able  to  perform,' 

On  Wednesday,  February  1 2,  1862,  on  the  occasion 
of  an  Address  presented  to  the  Upper  House  of  Con- 
vocation from  the  Lower  House  on  the  subject  of 
Sisterhoods,  a  debate  arose,  remarkable  chiefly  for  its 
unanimity  in  expressing  approval  of  the  excellence  of 
the  self-denying  life  to  which  these  women  had  de- 
voted themselves.  In  the  course  of  this  debate,  it  was 
suggested  as  necessary  that  these  establishments  should 
be  under  rules,  and  that  much  benefit  would  accrue  to 
the  Church  if  a  set  of  rules  could  be  drawn  up  for  all 
Sisterhoods.  The  Bishop  of  Oxford  moved  a  resolution 
concurring  with  the  Address  from  the  Lower  House,  as 
follows  : — 

That  this  House  has  read  and  considered  the  address  of 
the  Lower  House  as  to  the  devotion  of  themselves  by 
Christian  women  within  the  Church  of  England  to  works  of 
piety  and  chanty. 

This  was  seconded  by  the  Bishop  of  St.  David's,  and 
gave  rise  to  a  short  discussion  on  the  meaning  which 
the  word  'devotion'  might  convey.  The  Bishop  of 
London  pointed  out  that  the  word  might  be  under- 
stood to  mean  '  vow,'  and  said  :  '  Anything  like  a 
"  vow"  on  the  part  of  individuals  to  devote  themselves 
to  this  work  is  the  last  thing  we  should  recommend. 
It  is  most  desirable  that  this  should  be  clearly  under- 
stood.' This  gave  the  Bishop  of  Oxford  an  oppor- 
tunity of  publicly  stating  what  his  practice  had  been 
in  connection  with  Sisterhoods  in  his  own  diocese. 
He  said  :  '  In  my  diocese  I  have  uniformly  made  it 
the  condition  of  my  connection  with  these  institutions 
that  their  statutes  shall  state  explicitly  that  the  inmates 


336  LIFE   OF  BISHOP    IVILBERFORCE.      chap.  xil. 

are  bound  only  so  long  as  they  please  to  continue  in 
the  society.' 

At  the  Church  Congress  held  at  Oxford  in  July  of 
this  year,  Dr.  Pusey,  in  a  paper  which  he  read,  thanked 
the  Bishop  for  having  successfully  restrained  Con- 
vocation from  legislating  or  attempting  legislation  on 
this  matter,  because  any  code  of  rules  that  had  then 
been  drawn  up  must  have  had  a  narrowing  effect,  for 
no  code  could  embrace  both  the  higher  and  the  lower 
standard,  and  of  necessity  they  must  have  been  adapted 
to  the  lower  standard.  In  his  opinion,  rules  were  best 
made  by  experience. 

During  the  few  years  the  Bishop  presided  over  the 
diocese  of  Winchester  he  only  had  to  deal  with  one 
institution  of  this  sort.  His  dealing  with  it,  however, 
proves  in  a  remarkable  way  how  little  his  opinions 
regarding  the  rules  of  English  Sisterhoods  changed. 
The  statutes  regulating  St.  Thomas's  Home,  Elson, 
near  Gosport,  were  drawn  under  the  personal  super- 
vision of  the  Bishop  and  maybe  fairly  said  to  represent 
his  matured  opinions.  Some  of  the  principal  statutes 
are  here  summarised. 

The  Warden  was  to  be  chosen  by  the  Bishop  from 
three  names  to  be  submitted  to  him  by  the  Council. 

There  were  to  be  two  classes  of  sisters — full  sisters 
and  probationary — but  neither  of  these  were  to  be 
admitted,  If  under  30  years  of  age,  without  the  full  con- 
sent in  writing  of  parents  and  guardians,  and  such 
admission  was  to  be  subject  to  the  confirmation  of  the 
Visitor. 

No  sister  of  either  class  was  to  take  any  vow  of 
celibacy  or  poverty  ;  they  were  to  be  admitted  with  a 
service  approved  of  by  the  Bishop,  and  they  were  to 
have  full  and  uncontrolled  liberty  to  leave  whenever 
they  might  think  tit.     They  were,  however,  permitted 


1872.  STATUTES   OF  ELSON.  -1,7)1 

to  sign  a  form  of  obedience  to  the  statutes  during  their 
residence  in  the  Home,  and  they  might  wear  a  dis- 
tinctive dress.  None  of  these  rules  could  be  altered 
unless  by  a  three-fourths  majority  in  the  Council,  and 
not  then  unless  the  Bishop  agreed  to  the  change. 


VOL.  III. 


LIFE   OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.      chap.  xill. 


CHAPTER   XIII. 

{1870.) 

THE  WINCHESTER  DIOCESE — BISHOP'S  RESIGNATION  BILL — CORRESPONDENCE 
WITH  MR.  GLADSTONE— THE  DIARY — THE  IRISH  LAND  BILL— REVISION 
OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT — LETTERS  TO  AND  FROM  MR.  GLADSTONE — 
RULES  FOR  REVISION — WHAT  OUGHT  TO  BE  ALTERED  AND  WHAT  NOT — 
THE  WESTMINSTER  SCANDAL — PUBLIC  AND  PRIVATE  UTTERANCE  UPON — 
VISITATION  OF  CHANNEL  ISLANDS  —  VISIT  TO  M.  GUIZOT  —  FIRST 
FUNCTION  IN  CHANNEL  ISLANDS — CONFIRMATIONS — FIRST  ORDINATION 
IN  ISLANDS — RETURN  TO  ENGLAND — ALARMING  ILLNESS — DEATH  OF  MRS. 
E.    WILBERFORCE— DIOCESAN. 

The  Diary  records  that  'the  year  1870  began  with 
work  in  the  diocese ;  at  Redhill  with  good  old  Caze- 
nove.  Saw  poor  man's  Church — preached.'  *  y<^'fi- 
uary  5. — (Lavington^ — Too  wet  for  the  shooting. 
Duke  of  Richmond  came — will  not  lead.  Lord  Cairns 
to  begin.     Thinks  Derby  will  after.' 

January  12. — {Lavington.) — To  station  by  y.'j.  Wrote. 
London:  Ritual  Commission.  At  2.15  meeting  for  South 
London  distress.  Walked  with  Bishop  of  Gloucester  to  Pall 
Mall.  Then  clergy  to  licence.  Then  with  dear  A.  Cust  to 
Penge  Church. 

This  letter  to  Sir  Arthur  Gordon  has  reference 
principally  to  the  new  diocese. 

The  Bishop  of  Winchester  to  the  Hon.  Arthur 
Gordo7i. 

Lavington  House  :  January  i6,  1870. 

You  must  not  let  the  change  of  name  make  you  think 
that  one  single  link  of  the  old  chain  is  loosened.  Rather  as 
life  goes  on  does  it  seem  to  me  that  the  old  affections  deepen 
and  the  old  chains  of  love  become    more   firmly  rivetted. 


1870.  LEARNING   THE  DIOCESE. 


339 


You  ask  me  to  tell  you  about  the  change.  I  have  been 
welcomed  into  the  new  diocese  with  a  warmth  I  was  scarcely 
prepared  to  find.  But  it  has  at  present  been  a  vast  increase 
of  labour.  Things  had  of  necessity  got  a  good  deal  out  of 
gear  in  the  old  age,  and  latterly,  illness  of  my  predecessor : 
and  every\\\iQx&  there  seem  to  be  arrears.  Then  South 
London  is  a  tremendous  charge.  I  have  absolutely  refused 
to  take  any  work  outside  the  diocese,  and  I  mean  to  continue 
to  do  so.  The  learning  the  personnel  of  the  clergy  of  such  a 
diocese  of  real  knowledge  requires  great  exertion  of  many 
kinds :  do.  of  the  parishes  :  do.  of  the  squires,  &c.  This  is 
in  a  great  measure  my  present  work  :  and  till  it  is  mastered 
I  do  not  much  mind  not  having  Farnham.  This  house  com- 
mands a  large  part  of  the  south  of  the  Diocese — Reigate, 
Guildford,  Petersfield,  Portsmouth,  Isle  of  Wight.  And  I  am 
more  at  liberty  to  go  and  stay  with  my  squires,  all  of  whom 
press  me  to  come  and  see  them  at  home.  I  have  been  with  Lord 
Carnarvon,  Lord  Eversley,  Sir  H.  Mildmay,  &c.,and  am  setting 
off  on  Friday  for  Sir  W.  Heathcote's,  Lord  Malmesbury's,  and 
the  Duke  of  Wellington's.  This  will  bring  me  to  the  meeting 
of  Parliament,  by  which  time  I  hope  to  establish  myself  at 
Winchester  House.  I  envy  you  having  seen  Kingsley  in  his 
first  enjoyment  of  true  tropical  beauty.  I  greatly  rejoice  in 
having  him  in  the  diocese.  You  tell  me  nothing  of  your 
movements.  Are  you  not  coming  home  very  soon  on  your 
way  to  Mauritius  t '  Gladstone  has  produced  a  very  un- 
wholesome and  threatening  excitement  by  the  appointment 
of  Temple.  With  a  very  high  opinion  of  Temple  personally, 
I  deeply  regret  the  appointment,  because  he  has  so  obsti- 
nately refused  to  part  himself  from  the  Essays  and  Reviews 
in  their  censured  parts. 

The  correspondence  which  follows  between  Mr. 
Gladstone  and  the  Bishop  has  reference  to  a  Bill 
introduced  by  the  Bishop  into  the  House  of  Lords 
for  enabling  clergymen  to  resign  their  livings  when 
incapacitated  by  age  or  infirmity  from  performing  their 
duties.     Owing  to  the  pressure  of  business  occasioned 

'  To  which  colony  Sir  Arthur  had  been  appointed  Governor. 
Z  2 


340  LIFE   OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.      chap.  xili. 

by  the  introduction  of  Mr.  Gladstone's  Irish  Land 
Bill,  the  Bill  was  not  brought  into  the  House  of  Com- 
mons in  time  to  pass  through  that  House.  It  became 
law  in  1 87 1. 

The  Bishop  sent  the  draft  of  the  Bill  to  Lord 
Westbury,  asking  him  to  revise  and  hoping  that  he 
would  support  it.  This  drew  forth  a  very  characteristic 
reply.  Lord  Westbury  said  he  would  cordially  sup- 
port the  Bill,  but  added,  that  he  perceived  the  Bishop 
referred  to  '  diseases  of  the  mind.'  This,  he  said,  was 
a  difficulty,  because,  in  the  first  place,  there  could  be 
no  such  thing  as  disease  of  the  mind,  and  secondly,  if 
there  were,  he  had  never  yet  met  a  clergyman,  '  with 
the  exception  of  your  lordship,  who  had  a  mind.' 

The  Bishop  of  Winchesta^  to  the  Right  Hon.  W.  E. 

Gladstone. 

Hursley  Park  :  January  22,  1S70. 

My  dear  Gladstone, —  Yoii  suggested  to  me  getting  Con- 
vocation to  agree  on  a  Bill  for  the  resignation  of  the  Clergy. 
Here,  in  strict  confidence,  is  the  result.  I  have  no  doubt  of 
being  able  to  get  this  agreed  to  with  little  or  no  change.  I 
should  propose  to  bring  it  into  the  House  of  Lords. 

But  I  wish  first  to  know  confidentially  from  you  (i) 
whether  you  approve  of  it,  and  (2)  whether  or  no  you  would 
think  well  to  adopt  it.  I  hope  you  have  regained  strength 
before  your  great  work  begins. 

There  is  another  matter  on  which  I  should  like  to  know 
your  mind.  The  Bishop  of  Gibraltar  writes  for  my  advice  on 
a  suggestion  from  the  American  Bishops  there  that  we 
should  send  one  of  oiw  body  to  meet  an  American  Bishop 
and  endeavour  together  to  open  conferences  and  negotiations 
with  the  Italian  clergy  dissatisfied  with  the  Papacy  as  to 
their  interior  reformation.  I  am  not  much  inclined  to  such  a 
movement,  but  would  attempt  anything  which  you  thought 
desirable  in  the  matter.   I  am,  most  truly,  yours  afifectionately, 

S.  WiNTON. 


iS/o.  THE  CLERGY  RESIGNATION  BILL.  341 

The  Right  Hon.  JV.f^B.  Gladstone  to  the  Bishop  of 
Winchestei\ 

January  24,  1S70. 

1.  I  hold  to  the  opinion  that  Clergy  Resignation  is  a  good 
subject  to  work  upon.  Then  I  have  these  ideas — {a)  Any 
Bill  should  spring  from  the  Episcopal  fountainhead,  as  did 
the  Bill  of  last  year,  not  from  the  Government,  {h)  It  should 
follow  as  closely  as  possible  the  framework  of  last  year's  Act, 
only  with  some  more  securities  on  account  of  the  much  greater 
risk  of  abuse.  I  doubt  if  you  should  provide  for  any  cases 
except  those  provided  for  last  year.  Certainly  the  words 
'  for  any  other  cause  '  seem  to  me  too  wide,  {c)  It  would  not 
be  possible  to  tie  the  Government  in  the  first  instance  to  the 
details  of  a  Bill— had  you  not  better  therefore  invite  Convo- 
cation to  adopt  an  outline  of  scheme  rather  than  a  ready- 
made  measure  .-• 

2.  I  should  think  any  question  of  dealing  with  dissatisfied 
Italian  Clergy  could  not  as  yet  be  ripe  for  handling  by  any 
English  Bishop,  and  that  it  had  better  remain,  as  you  seem 
to  think,  in  other  hands. 

The  Bishop  of  Winchester  to  the  Right  Hon.  W.  E. 

Gladstone. 

Clapham  Common  :  Holy  Thursday. 

My  dear  Gladstone, — Many  thanks  for  your  very  kind 
note.  I  am  very  sorry  not  to  have  seen  you.  But  I  only 
got  your  note  as  I  passed  from  a  long  morning  service  to 
come  on  to  a  Confirmation  here,  where  I  sleep.  I  am  to  be 
at  the  Jerusalem  Chamber  to-morrow  at  11  till  5  in  the  chair 
of  the  Ritual  Commission  :  so  that  I  fear  it  will  be  scarcely 
possible  for  you  to  see  me.  I  will  come  at  once  at  5  to  any 
place  which  you  may  appoint. 

As  to  the  Clergy  Retiring  Bill,  I  have  sent  that  draft 
round  to  every  Bishop,  and  received  answers  from  a  large 
proportion  to  two  questions  I  sent  with  it — I.  Are  you  of 
opinion  it  should  be  introduced  into  the  House  of  Lords .'' 
II.  Have  you  amendments  to  suggest .''  I  have  a  consensus 
as  to  introducing  it  and  no  formidable  amendments.     My 


342  LIFE   OF  BISHOP   WILBERFORCE.      chap.  xill. 

intention,  unless  you  dissuade,  is  to  introduce  it  as  soon  as 
possible.     It  is  very  greatly  desired  by  the  Clergy. 

As  to  the  Education  Bill,  I  think  there  is  a  very  strong 
feeling  amongst  the  Clergy  against  excluding  formularies 
from  the  House  which  the  Conscience  Clause  is  to  guard.  I 
read  your  answer  most  carefully  in  the  '  Telegraph.'  I  see 
the  danger  of  schools  on  the  modified  Christian  instruction 
principle  to  be  exceedingly  great.     I  am  very  affectionately 

y^""*^'  S.   WINTON. 

The  Right  Hon.  W.  E.  Gladstone  to  the  Bishop  of 
Wiftchester. 

May  17,  1870. 

I.  With  regard  to  the  Resignation  Bill,  if  you  feel  con- 
fidence that  the  difficulties  of  detail  inherent  in  the  subject 
have  been  satisfactorily  dealt  with,  I  know  no  reason  why 
5^ou  should  not  try  it  in  the  House  of  Lords,  unless  it  be  that 
the  block  of  business  this  year  would  probably  prevent  its 
passing  the  Commons  if  it  were  to  become  the  subject  of  any 
serious  contest. 

I  presume  that  you  propose  it  on  behalf  of  the  Upper 
House  of  Convocation  as  well  as  the  Lower  :  could  you  get 
the  assent  of  the  Northern  Bishops,  or  of  the  Archbishop 
and  one  or  two  others,  it  would  be  a  great  advantage.  I 
would  mention  it  in  Cabinet  on  the  next  or  any  following 
Saturday ;  but  the  main  point  to  which  the  Government 
would  look  in  the  first  instance  would  probably  be  whether 
the  Bill  proceeded  from  and  represented  the  Episcopal  mind, 
in  the  same  sense  as  this  might  be  said  of  the  measure  of 
last  year.  I  have  not  examined  the  Bill  with  any  care  (I 
now  return  it),  partly  from  the  heavy  pressure  of  business, 
but  in  part  also  because  I  think  there  is  no  advantage  in  my 
attempting  to  consider  its  particular  provisions  at  the  present 
stage. 

The  few  diary  extracts  which  follow  are  given  as 
being  typical  of  the  first  three  and  a  half  months  of  this 
year.  With  one  exception,  the  Bishop  was  during  this 
time  entirely  occupied  with   the  new  diocese.      The 


1870.  WORK  IN  THE  DIOCESE. 


543 


exception  was  a  sermon  at  Oxford  on  February  20. 
The  diary  records  his  going  down  to  preach.  '  The 
old  Diocese  ;  very  low  ;  kindness  everywhere.'  One 
curiously  significant  word  frequently,  almost  regularly, 
occurs  during  this  period,  and  that  is  *  stream.'  Every 
morning  at  Winchester  House,  as  the  writer  well 
remembers,  this  stream  set  in,  generally  during  break- 
fast, and  continued  till  the  afternoon.  Writing,  dicta- 
ting, and  seeing  man  after  man,  was  the  ever-recurring 
morning  occupation,  then  occasionally  a  hurried  lun- 
cheon, generally  none,  and  then  the  Bishop  set  off — 
riding  when  fine,  driving  at  other  times — into  South 
London,  for  Confirmations,  Church  openings,  school 
openings,  speech-making,  organising  the  South  London 
Fund,  working  up  the  heavy  arrears  entailed  by  the  long 
illness  of  his  predecessor.  It  is  no  wonder  that  the 
diary  frequently  records  *  much  wearied.'  Even  at  this 
early  stage  the  work  was  beginning  to  tell  upon  the 
Bishop's  unwearying  energy. 

March  27. — Prepared  sermon  on  miracle  of  loaves. 
Preached  at  St.  George's,  Camberwell.  Luncheon  after  with 
S.  Smith.  To  St.  James's :  heard  Liddon  on  sin — a  most 
admirable  sermon.  May  I  be  the  better  for  it,  O  Lord. 
Went  home  with  Anderson. 

April  7. — Morning,  wrote.  Saw  some.  To  Ecclesiastical 
Commission.  Rode  to  St.  Mark's,  Kennington — confirmed. 
Rode  to  St.  Jude's,  Peckham,  Coming  back  to  House  of 
Lords,  knee  hurt  by  shaft  of  cart.  Colonial  Bishops'  council. 
Took  A —  to  House  of  Commons. 

April (). — Wrote.  Stream.  Rode  to  S.  Giles',  Camberwell: 
nice  Confirmation.  Took  A —  to  French  Exhibition,  &c. 
We  all  dined  en  famillc  at  the  Hopes' :  very  friendly  in- 
deed. 

April  10. — Off  in  Cazcnovc's  carriage,  kindly  sent,  for 
St.  John's,  Clapham.  Then  with  Nicholl  to  Battersea. 
Preached  on  Judas.     Luncheon,  and  down  to  Church  of  poor 


344  Z//^£   OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.       chap.  xni. 

St.  John's.  Preached  on  Joy  in  Heaven.  Back  to  Chapel 
Royal.     Walked  with  Reg. :  very  tired. 

April  II. — To  Portsmouth.  Walked  on  Southsea  Com- 
mon. Preached  at  Garrison  Chapel.  Then  confirmed  till 
7.30.     Much  wearied. 

April  12. — Morning  prayer  and  Confirmation.  Luncheon 
at  the  'George'  with  Mayor  Sheppard;  Sir  J.  Hope,  Admiral 
Commander-in-chief;  Admiral  Key,  Dockyard.  Then  to 
Alverstoke  :  Confirmation  ;  address.  To  Elson  :  Confirma- 
tion.    Dined  at  Walpole's — one  or  two  of  the  clergy  there. 

To  the  Archbishop  of  Dublin  the  Bishop  writes  on 
April  I  7  from  Ockley  Court,  Dorking  : — 

I  am  here  to  open  a  Church,  having  not  yet  had  one  day's 
holiday.  I  go  on  hence  to  Lavington  till  Tuesday  next, 
when  work  begins  again. 

April  21. — {Lavington)  Alarm  of  fire  on  the  Common. 
Rode  quickly  down.  Found  Grafifham  Common  in  a  blaze. 
The  roar  terrible.  A  wonderful  sight.  At  last  got  together 
hands,  and,  Reg,  helping,  drew  lines  and  burnt  inward,  and 
stopped  it  when  about  half  burnt. 

April  30. — Many  to  see.  British  Museum.  To  St. 
Matthew's,  Denmark  Hill  :  Confirmation.  Rode  home. 
Wrote,  and  to  Academy  dinner :  Gladstone,  Motley,  and 
C.  Dickens  spoke  well  ;  Disraeli  came  and  shook  hands. 

This  extract  from  a  letter  to  Miss  Thornton,  the 
only  surviving  friend  of  the  Bishop's  childhood,  has 
reference  to  the  last  entry. 

May  28. 
Yes,  Lothair  is  all  you  say.  But  my  wrath  against  D. 
has  burnt  before  this  so  fiercely  that  it  seems  to  have  burnt 
up  all  the  materials  for  burning  and  to  be  like  an  exhausted 
prairie  fire — full  of  black  stumps,  burnt  grass,  and  all 
abominations. 

A  few  extracts  from  the  diary  after  Easter  are  : 

June  8. — To  London  after  breakfast.  Letters.  Rode 
to   Horticultural :  orchids  wonderful.     Dined  Sir  A.  Roths- 


1870.                          THE  IRISH  LAND  BILL.                           345 
child's,   taking    Gladstones :    grand    party ;    Duke    of  


coarse ;  I  changed  my  place.  Talk  with  Princess,  who 
charming, 

June  ly. — Wrote  with  Woodford  all  day  till  House  of 
Lords — loi  letters — rather  cleared  score.  Carried  Bill  a  stage. 

jfime  18. — Up  early,  and  got  sermon  ready  on  Four-and- 
twenty  elders  fell  down.  With  Woodford  for  Richmond. 
Consecrated  Trinity  Church  :  all  encouraging.  Back  to 
London  with  Archdeacon,  and  met  Wallis  at  station  about 
St.  Anne's,  Bermondsey.  Wrote.  Rode  to  Mr.  Holford's 
and  in  Park.  Dined,  Duke  of  Cleveland,  Duchess  of  Cam- 
bridge, &c. 

y7ine  23. — Early  Communion.  Keble  College  opening : 
spoke.  Back  to  All  Souls'  for  luncheon,  and  then  to  Mag- 
dalen. With  President  to  Nuneham,  where  great  party  of 
friends — all  kind.  Wrote.  At  dinner,  small  party,  but  all 
lively,  good,  and  kind. 

It  will  be  noticed  with  what  pleasure  the  Bishop 
always  revisited  the  Oxford  diocese. 

The  next  letters  refer  to  Mr.  Gladstone's  Irish 
Land  Bill. 

The  Right  Hon.    JV.  E.  Gladstone  to  the  Bishop  of 
Winchester. 

June  20,  1870. 

My  dear  Bishop  of  Winchester, — I  venture  earnestly  to 
beg  that,  if  you  are  able  to  contrive  it,  you  will  devote  some 
time  to  the  House  of  Lords  during  the  Committee  on  the 
Irish  Land  Bill,  which  commences  on  Thursday  next,  and 
that  you  will  give  such  consideration  as  you  may  think  fit  to 
the  important  questions  which  arc  likely  to  be  brought  under 
discussion. 

On  an  ordinary  question  of  politics,  indeed  on  any  ques- 
tion of  mere  politics,  I  should  hesitate  long  before  venturing 
to  make  to  a  Prelate  of  the  Church  any  request  urging  him  to 
give  attention  to  or  take  part  in  the  proceedings  on  a  particular 
measure.  But  I  consider  the  Irish  Land  Bill  to  stand  by  itself ; 
it  really  appertains  not  so  much  to  the  well-being  as  to  the 


346  LIFE   OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.       chap.  xiii. 

being  of  civilised  society,  for  the  existence  of  society  can  hardly 
be  such  as  to  deserve  that  name,  until  the  conditions  of  peace 
and  order  and  of  mutual  goodwill  and  confidence  shall  have 
been  more  firmly  established  in  Ireland.  Believe  me  most 
sincerely  yours,  ^  ^   GLADSTONE. 

The  Bishop  of  Wincheste}''  to  the  Right  Hon.  W.  E. 
Gladstone. 

University  Museum,  Oxford, 
Department  of  Medicine  :  June  22,  1870. 

My  dear  Gladstone, — I  should  always  find  the  greatest 
difficulty  in  not  attending  to  any  desire  of  yours  ;  and  in  this 
case  I  so  fully  appreciate  the  distinction  you  point  to  between 
mere  political  party  divisions  and  those  which  involve  the 
completeness  of  a  national  peace-ofifering,  that  I  am  prepared 
to  throw  on  you  the  whole  responsibility  of  the  details  of  a 
measure  the  principle  of  which  has  been  admitted,  and  to 
support  your  Government  throughout.  In  this  view  I  have 
paired  off"  with  the  Bishop  of  Rochester  for  Thursday  and 
Friday,  and  believe  I  have  done  well  in  doing  so.  For 
though  at  great  inconvenience  I  coidd  come  up  for  Thursday, 
I  could  not  for  Friday,  being  by  long  engagement  to  be 
received  as  Visitor  of  St.  John's  College,  and  the  members  of 
the  College  having  been  summoned  from  all  quarters  to  meet 
me.  Now,  I  suppose  that  you  are  most  likely  to  have  your 
most  important  division  on  Friday,  and  as  the  Bishop  of 
Rochester  meant  to  attend  and  would  have  voted  against 
you,  I  hope  you  will  think  that  I  have  made  the  best  arrange- 
ment I  could.  If  you  will  send  me  one  line  to  Nuneham, 
Abingdon,  it  will  be  a  comfort  to  me.     I   am  ever  affection- 

""yy""^'  S.W1NT0N. 

On  February  lo  the  Bishop  in  Convocation  moved 
this  resolution  for  the  revision  of  the  Authorized 
Version  of  the  New  Testament : — 

To  appoint  a  Joint  Committee  of  both  Houses,  that  is,  of 
the  Upper  and  Lower  Houses  of  this  Province,  with  power  to 
confer  with  any  Committee  that  may  be  appointed  by  the 


1870.  REVISION  OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT.  347 

Convocation  of  the  Northern  Province,  to  report  on  the 
desirableness  of  a  revision  of  the  Authorized  Version  of  the 
New  Testament,  whether  by  marginal  notes  or  otherwise,  in 
all  those  passages  where  plain  and  clear  errors,  whether  in 
the  Greek  text  originally  adopted  by  the  Translators  or  in 
the  translation  made  by  the  same,  shall,  on  due  investigation, 
be  found  to  exist. 

This  resolution  was  agreed  to,  and  the  outcome  of 
it  was  that  a  Revision  Committee  was  appointed, 
which  completed  its  work  in  the  year  1882.  The 
alterations  which  have  been  made  are  so  various  and 
manifold  that  it  is  \vell  to  record  the  words  used  by 
the  Bishop  in  moving  the  above  resolution,  to  show 
what  changes  he  contemplated,  and  how  jealously  he 
would  have  excluded  those  alterations  which,  to  use 
his  own  words,  destroyed  the  *  ring  of  familiarity '  to 
the  ordinary  reader. 

I  should  deprecate  exceedingly  any  attempt  at  a  new 
translation,  beginning  at  the  beginning  and  going  on  to  the 
end.  Anything  which  threw  away  the  translation  around 
which  I  suppose  almost  all  our  religious  feelings,  from  the 
very  earliest  times,  have  grown  and  around  which  they  gather 
still — anything  shocking  or  that  would  shock  these  feelings 
in  our  minds,  is  not  at  all  what  I  contemplate.  In  the  words 
of  the  motion  Avhich  I  propose,  it  is  thrown  out  that  these 
things  may  be  put  into  the  margin — a  note  at  the  side,  to 
say  what  the  authority  is,  as  we  believe,  for  any  such  doubt- 
ful reading,  whence  it  came,  and  whatever  proper  rendering 
ought  to  be  adopted.  I  should  not  wish  at  all  to  see  altera- 
tions made  which  might  make  what  is  called  the  present 
grammar  more  perfect — the  change  of  '  that '  into  '  which  ' 
and  the  like.  We  might  in  that  way  introduce  a  great 
number  of  alterations,  and  change  the  ring,  if  I  may  so 
call  it,  of  the  document;  but  I  should  object  very  strongly 
to  that.  I  would  only  change  those  passages  in  which 
there  is  reason  to  believe  that  cither  from  the  text  used 
in    the    translation    there    crept    some   real   error   into    the 


348  LIFE   OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.       chap.  xiil. 

material  of  the  book  itself,  or  that  there  was  from  the  lan- 
guage employed  something  which  conveyed  a  wrong  impres- 
sion to  the  reader's  mind.  I  should  strongly  oppose  the 
striking  out  of  archaisms  or  anything  which  gave  to  the 
ordinary  reader  the  ring  of  familiarity  and  ancient  reverence 
for  that  beautiful  book — that  most  beautiful  and  inestimable 
book  which  we  have  received  from  our  fathers. 

The  letters  which  passed  between  Mr.  Gladstone 
and  the  Bishop  on  this  subject,  given  below,  show 
what  difficulties  and  dangers  they  both  anticipated 
should  the  initiative,  with  regard  to  the  composition  of 
the  Committee  for  the  Revision  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment, be  taken  by  the  State  instead  of  by  the  Epi- 
scopate. Mr,  Buxton's  question,  referred  to  in  these 
letters,  related  to  the  appointment  of  a  Royal  Com- 
mission for  Revision. 

The  Right  Hon.   W.  E.  Gladstone  to  the  Bishop  of 
Winchester'. 

February  21,  1 8  70. 
My  dear  Bishop  of  Winchester, — Lord  Shaftesbury  having 
written  to  me  in  relation  to  a  question  of  which  Mr.  Buxton 
has  given  notice,  I  have  sent  him  a  reply  of  which  I  enclose 
a  copy.  I  must  own  myself  totally  at  a  loss  to  see  how  the 
preliminary  difficulty  of  composing  tho.  Commission,  if  a  Crown 
Commission,  could  be  surmounted.     Believe  me  affectionately 

^'°"''''  W.  E.  Gladstone. 

The  Right  Hon.  W.  E.  Gladstone  to  Lord  Shaftesbury. 

Carlton  House  Terrace  :  February  21,  1870. 

My  dear  Shaftesbury, — Mr.  Buxton's  question  stands  for 
March  18,  and  any  answer  to  be  given  to  it  on  the  part  of  the 
Government  will  be  carefully  considered  beforehand. 

Some  short  time  back  the  Bishops  of  Winchester  and 
Gloucester  referred  to  me  on  the  same  subject.  I  was  rather 
startled  by  the  inquiry.     I  answered,  however,  that  no  pledge 


1870.    CORRESPONDENCE    WITH  MR.    GLADSTONE.     349 

could  be  given  by  me  on  the  part  of  the  Government,  that  I 
did  not  think  they  would  be  disposed  to  stand  in  the  way 
of  a  general  desire,  but  neither  would  they,  I  thought,  be 
responsible  for  any  initiative  in  stirring  the  question,  or  be 
disposed  to  take  it  up  as  a  contested  one. 

This  was  from  an  official  point  of  view.  Speaking  as  an 
individual,  I  may  add  that  the  more  I  think  upon  the  subject, 
the  more  I  am  impressed  with  the  difficulties  of  any  inter- 
ference by  aiitJiority  either  for  the  purpose  of  settling  a  Greek 
Text  or  for  the  purpose  of  altering  the  present  version  of 
Holy  Scripture.  To  all  private  labourers  with  a  view  to 
either  purpose  I  give  a  hearty  sympathy  ;  and  such  labours 
may  render  possible  hereafter  what  I  cannot  see  my  way  to 
now. 

I  am  glad  to  observe  that  Mr.  Blakeley  in  to-day's 
'  Times '  appears  to  point  in  this  direction  and  to  argue  that 
the  present  version  became  authorised  on  account  of  its  ex- 
cellence, and  was  not  formed  under  State  authority.  It  is,  in 
my  mind,  not  a  little  remarkable  that,  at  the  time  of  the 
Council  of  Trent,  the  Roman  Church  found  it  expedient  to 
leave  open  (according  to  Father  Paul)  the  question  of  the 
authentic  text  of  the  Vulgate  ;  and  that  in  1870  the  Pope  and 
his  myrmidons,  when  they  are  apparently  bold  enough  for 
most  things,  yet  have  not  attempted  either  this  or  the  hand- 
ling of  the  Greek  Text.     Yours  sincerely, 

W.  E.  Gladstone. 

The  Bishop  of  Winchester  to  the  Right  Hon.  IV.  E. 

Gladstone. 

P'cbruary  22,  1S70. 

My  dear  Gladstone, — Many  thanks  for  letting  me  see 
your  letter  to  Lord  Shaftesbury.  I  thought  your  objection  to 
a  Royal  Commission  at  the  present  time  unanswerable  ;  and 
for  that  reason  took  the  course  you  have  probably  seen  in 
Convocation. 

This  must  occupy  a  very  considerable  time  ;  it  also  leaves 
for  consideration:  i.  Whether  any  step  is  desirable.  2. 
What  steps. 


350  LIFE   OF  BISHOP    VVILBERFORCE.       chap.  xiii. 

Of  course  I  was  not  privy  to  Buxton's  notice.  But  the 
knowledge,  before  I  moved,  that  the  Broad  party  were  about 
to  move,  convinced  me  of  the  wisdom  of  our  moving  and  hav- 
ing the  matter  in  our  hands.  C.  Buxton's  question  is  one  of 
the  set  of  troublesome  movements  I  expected.  My  own  im- 
pression is  that  it  will  be  best  to  keep  the  text  unaltered  and 
put  any  corrections  into  the  margin.  Thence  by  slow  degrees 
they  may  migrate  into  the  text.  I  would  not  give  up  our 
translation  for  anything — nor  have  I  the  faintest  idea  of  the 
Bishop  of  St.  David's  vision  of  a  final,  once  for  all,  revision. 

The  only  need  at  last  for  State  authority  will  be  for  the 
Queen's  printers  to  be  allowed  to  print  what  the  Church  has 
adopted  as  the  Authorized  Version.  I  hope  you  will  be  able  to 
tell  me  (perhaps  to-morrow  evening)  that  you  do  not  think 
this  very  rash. 

It  is  quite  another  matter  for  the  Pope  authoritatively  to 
fix  a  text. 

So  you  have,  as  I  forewarned  you,  Chichester  to  give  away. 
I  long,  in  that  county  of  my  residence  so  near  the  Cathedral, 
for  a  man  with  whom  I  can  happily  work  and  live.  May  God 
guide  you.     I  am  affectionately  yours,  ^    .^ 

The  rules  which  were  drawn  up  for  the  guidance 
of  the  Committee  were  in  accordance  with  the  Bishop's 
statement.     Two  of  them  only  need  be  given. 

1.  To  introduce  as  few  alterations  as  possible  into  the 
text  of  the  Authorized  Version  consistently  with  faithfulness. 

2.  To  limit,  as  far  as  possible,  the  expression  of  such  altera- 
tions to  the  language  of  the  Authorized  and  earlier  English 
Versions. 

How  far  these  rules  were  carried  into  effect,  those 
who  have  carefully  compared  the  new  Version  with 
the  old  can  judge  for  themselves. 

On  July  14  the  Bishop  attended  the  first  meeting 
of  the  Revision  Committee  of  the  New  Testament,  of 
which  Committee  he  was  appointed  permanent  chair- 
man, and  the  Bishop  of  Gloucester  and  Bristol  vice- 


iSyo.  THE    WESTMINSTER  SCANDAL.  351 

chairman.  Bishop  Wilberforce,  owing  to  the  enormous 
pressure  of  work  forced  upon  him  by  the  diocese 
over  which  he  then  presided,  was  unable  to  take  any 
part  in  the  work  of  the  Committee ;  he  was  only  present 
on  this  day,  and  then  only  for  a  short  time. 

Before  this  meeting  an  occurrence  had  taken  place, 
which  at  the  time  created  a  considerable  stir.  In  June 
the  Dean  of  Westminster,  who  had  at  the  time  of  the 
Pan-Anglican  Synod  refused  the  use  of  the  Abbey  to 
that  body  who  sought  it  with  the  object  that  any 
members  of  the  Synod  who  so  desired  might,  before 
beginning  their  deliberations,  receive  the  Holy  Com- 
munion there,  issued  a  notice  to  all  the  members 
of  the  Revision  Committee,  that  there  would  be  a 
celebration  of  the  Holy  Communion  at  half  past  eleven 
o'clock  on  June  22  in  King  Henry  VH.'s  Chapel. 
The  result  was,  that  among  those  who  presented  them- 
selves was  the  Rev.  G.  Vance  Smith,  an  Unitarian 
minister,  who,  on  account  of  his  great  learning,  had 
been  appointed  a  member  of  the  Committee.-  Bishop 
Wilberforce  was  not  present  at  this  service,  being 
detained  by  his  diocesan  engagements.  He,  of  course, 
with  others  received  the  invitation  to  be  present,  and 
thought  that  such  an  invitation  had  only  been  issued 
to  those  members  of  the  Committee  who  belonged  to 
the  Church  of  England. 

On  July  5  Convocation  discussed  what  w^as  after- 
wards called  the  '  Westminster  scandal,'  and  on  that 
occasion  Bishop  Wilberforce  publicly  stated  his  opinion 
on  it  as  follows  : — 

I   am   bound  to   say,   without  entering  upon    any    other 

"-  When  Mr.  V.  Smith  was  appointed  to  the  Committee,  Bishop  Wilberforce 
was  not  present ;  only  nine  members  of  the  Revision  Committee  appointed  by 
Convocation  were  present,  and  Mr.  Vance  Smitli  was  elected  by  a  majority  of 
one. 


352  LIFE   OF  BISHOP    WILDERFORCE.       chap.  xiii. 

question,  that  I  deeply  lament  that  any  one  professing  not 
only  to  hold  but  to  be  the  teacher  of  a  doctrines©  dishonour- 
ing to  Our  Lord  and  Saviour  as  the  denial  of  His  Godhead,^ 
joined  in  that  act  of  Holy  Communion  of  our  Church,  with 
the  Bishops  of  that  Church.*  I  do  most  deeply  lament  that 
such  should  have  been  the  case. 

The  Bishop's  private  opinions  can  be  gathered  from 
the  next  letter. 


The  Bishop  of  Winchester''  to  the  Rev.   H.   P. 
Liddon,  D.D. 

Meon  Stoke:  July  i6,  1870. 

My  dear  Liddon, — What  can  be  done  in  this  most  miser- 
able business .'  My  own  conviction  is  nothing — and  that  I 
should  only  increase  the  evil  by  my  own  distinct  and,  as  I  find 
on  every  side,  thoroughly  apprehended  disclaimer  of  all  fellow- 
ship with  the  mischief 

It  seems  to  me  that  the  Bishops  I  heard  in  Convocation 
(the  worst,  except  Bath  and  Wells,  who  was  thoroughly  un- 
sound, was  said  before  I  joined  it,  from  marrying  Lady  E. 
Nelson)  were  all  meaning  to  justify  themselves  by  showing 
that  they  had  no  part  in  sending  the  invitation,  and  had  no 
means  or  right  of  inquiry  who  were  admitted  by  the  autho- 
rities of  the  Abbey  to  the  Communion.  Now,  anything  which 
leads  to  more  defence  on  their  part,  arising  from  one  of  them- 
selves, would,  I  fear,  only  increase  the  evil.  So,  though  my 
heart  is  sick  about  it,  I  see  nothing  to  do.  The  Dean  of 
Westminster  is  the  real  offender  and  cause  of  the  evil. 

I  could  not  be  in  London  Thursday  evening  from  a  long- 
standing diocesan  engagement  here.  But  I  grieve  at  the 
episcopal  utterance.  Still  in  my  own  conviction  of  the 
probability  of  a  delayed  measure  being  worse  than  this  makes 

^  In  justice  to  Dr.  Vance  Smith,  it  ought  to  be  stated  that  on  August  4,  he 
wrote  a  letter  to  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  in  which  he  stated  that  he  had 
never  denied  the  Divinity  of  our  Lord. 

*  The  Bishops  of  Ely  and  Salisbury  were  present  and  received  the  Holy  Com- 
munion. 


i87o.  VISIT  TO   THE   CHANNEL  ISLANDS.  35 


ODO 


me  very  doubtful  as  to  the  right  course,     I  shall  be  very  glad 

of  any  suggestions  you  can  send  to  help  me. 

What  a  heart-saddening  time  it  is  on  every  side.     And 

this  addition  of  an  European  war  is  terrible,     I  am  to  be  at 

Southsea  with    Basil    to-morrow  ;    Monday   at   Winchester 

House  for  a  Diocesan  Synod  on  Tuesday  ;  and,  as  at  present 

fixed,  set  off  on  Thursday  for  the  Channel  Islands,    I  am  ever 

very  affectionately  yours,  ^    ,,. 

^  /  j^         »  5_  WiNTON. 

This  letter  to  Mr.  Gordon  furnishes  another  illus- 
tration of  the  great  increase  of  the  Bishop's  labour 
occasioned  by  the  new  diocese.  As  will  be  seen,  Mr. 
Gordon  arrived  in  England  in  time  to  accompany  the 
Bishop  to  M,  Guizot's, 

The  Bishop  of  Wincltestcr  to  the  Hon.  Arthur 
Gordon. 

July  15,  1870. 

My  heartiest  welcome  to  your  approaching  footsteps — and 
God's  blessing  to  you  on  your  return,  I  suppose  you  will 
stay  with  us  some  time.  At  this  moment  I  am  hunted  to 
death  by  the  business  of  this  great  Diocese — FAR  worse  than 
the  last.  I  am  here  for  an  opening  yesterday.  I  go  on  to- 
day to  Southsea,  where  Basil  has  a  curacy,  for  two  sermons 
to-morrow,  and  get  back  on  Monday  to  London  to  receive 
Archdeacons  and  Rural  Deans,  34  in  number,  for  dinner  and 
Synod  Monday  and  Tuesday ;  and  as  at  present  fixed  I  set 
off  Thursday  for  Normandy  and  Guizot  on  my  way  to  the 
Channel  Islands  for  Confirmations,  &c.  How  I  wish  you 
would  go  with  me  to  Guizot's  ! 

VISIT  TO    THE   CHANNEL   ISLANDS. 

COMMUNICATED    BY    THE    LORD    BISHOP    OF    ELY. 

Early  in  the  year  the  Bishop  determined  to  visit 
the  Channel    Islands    in   the   course   of  the   ensuing 
summer,  and  invited  me  to  accompany  him.     With  the 
VOL.  in.  A  A 


354  L^P^  OF  BISHOP   WILBERFORCE.       CHAP.  xiii. 

view  of  avoiding  the  long  sea-passage  from  Weymouth, 
and  of  accompHshing  a  promised  visit  to  M,  Guizot  at 
Val  Richer,  he  resolved  to  pass  through   Normandy 
and  to  cross  from  Granville  to  Jersey — the  Govern- 
ment boat  the   '  Dasher '   having  been  placed  at  his 
disposal.     We  started  on  July  21,  not  without  some 
misgivings  as  to  our  progress  through  France,  as  the 
war  with  Germany  had  commenced  and  the  ordinary 
traffic  of  the  various  railways  was  already  disorganised 
by  the  conveyance  of  troops.     Crossing  from  Folke- 
stone, we  reached  Amiens  late  at  night.     On  the  fol- 
lowing morning  we  were  in  the  cathedral  at  a  quarter- 
past  five  o'clock,  and  having  spent  an  hour  there,  left 
by  the  seven  o'clock  train  for  Rouen.     At  Rouen  we 
were  joined  by  Sir  A.  Gordon,  who  was  also  to  be 
M.  Guizot's  guest.     From  this  time  the  Bishop  began 
thoroughly  to  enjoy  the  expedition.     Diocesan  cares 
were  each  day,  under  the    influence   of  new  scenes, 
falling  more  into  the  distance.     The  arrival  of  Sir  A. 
Gordon,  who  had  before  stayed  at  Val  Richer,  freed 
him  at  once  from  certain  feelings  of  diffidence  which, 
notwithstanding  his  perpetual  visiting  from  house  to 
house,   always  clung   to   him   when   going   to  a  new 
place.     He  had  from  the  first  anticipated  with  great 
interest,  and  now  looked  forward  with  unmixed  pleasure 
to  the  being  domesticated  in  a  great  French  house- 
hold and  the  collecting  information  from  the  retired 
statesman  as  to  the  real  feelings  of  the  French  people 
with  regard  to  the  war.     Accordingly,  we  had  scarcely 
been  welcomed  by  our  host  and  conducted  by  him  into 
the  drawing-room,  the  chief  ornaments  of  which  were 
two  life-size  portraits  of  Louis- Philippe  and  his  Queen, 
than  the  subject  of  the  war  was  opened.     *  I  am  come,' 
said  the  Bishop,  '  to  be  instructed  by  you  as  to  what 
I  ought  to  think  about  it.'     The  conversation  which 


1870.  M.   GUIZOT  ON  MR.   GLADSTONE.  355 

followed  is  thus  recorded  in  a  letter  to  Mr.  Gladstone, 
which  the  Bishop  wrote  immediately  upon  our  retiring 
to  his  private  room. 

The  Bishop  of  Winchester  to  the  Right  Hon.    W.  E. 

Gladstone. 

Val  Richer  :  July  23,  1870. 

My  dear  Gladstone, — You  will  like  a  few  words  about 
my  host.  He  looks  a  very  little  older  in  body — in  power 
and  quickness  of  mind,  fulness  of  memory,  in  readiness  and 
retentiveness  of  affection  not  a  day  older.  He  spoke  with 
great  affection  and  great  admiration  of  you,  '  Mr.  Gladstone 
is  such  an  honest  man.'  He  has  been  closely  watching  your 
course  as  Prime  Minister.  He  spoke  of  the  death  of  so 
many  of  our  Peelite  party,  and  said,  '  The  men  are  dead,  the 
party  governs.'  He  talked  freely  of  the  war,  &c.  *  We 
were  altogether  right.  Prussia  was  altogether  wrong  until 
the  last  hour.  In  Prussia  it  was  a  political  intrigue  ;  a  plot. 
We  had  succeeded  ;  if  we  had  been  quiet,  all  the  gain  would 
have  been  ours.  Our  last  act  was  wrong.  The  war  as  a  war 
is  not  popular — we  have  got  to  love  peace.  A  plebiscite 
would  have  been  by  a  vast  majority  against  war.  But 
France  is  a  soldier,  and  once  in  war  our  whole  soul  is  in  it. 
Then  France  hates  Prussia — she  has  no  other  national  hate. 
The  long  surviving  feeling  against  England,  from  our  long  war, 
is  dead.  Against  Austria,  Russia,  America,  we  have  no  bad 
feeling.  But  hatred  to  Prussia  is  a  deep  French  feeling.  All 
our  Norman  peasants  here  arc  strong  for  peace,  but  if  a  Prus- 
sian war  came  near  them  they  would  rise  to  a  man  with  enthu- 
siasm. I  hope  the  war  will  be  left  as  a  duel,  and  that  a 
great  victory  of  France  will  end  it.  Denmark  will  join  when 
we  have  won  the  first  victory.  France  is  more  ready  for 
war,  though  the  Prussian  reserves  are  more  trained  than 
ours.  I  know  that  the  plan  of  the  Prussian  campaign  is  to 
retreat  and  fight  on  the  defensive.  But  we  are  sending  a 
large  force  into  the  Baltic,  and  that  will  make  a  most  serious 
diversion  for  Prussia.  Now  tell  me  about  your  own  young 
men.'     We  talked  of  Salisbury  and  one  or  two  more,  and  he 

A  A  2 


356  LIFE  OF  BISHOP   WILBERFORCE.      chap.  xiir. 

said,  '  I  do  not  want  to  know  about  one  and  another.  I 
want  to  hear  of  a  class  of  young  men  rising  up.'  I  write  all 
this  down  soon  after  coming  up  to  my  room,  because  I 
think  that  it  will  interest  you.  I  am  here  on  my  way  to 
Guernsey  and  Jersey  for  Confirmations,  &c.  I  am  ever 
yours,  very  affectionately,  g^  WiNTON. 

I  forgot  to  record  one  interesting  part  of  Guizot's  con- 
versation. He  said  strongly  '  that  it  was  not  a  war  for  in- 
crease of  territory :  that  France  had  a  misgiving  as  to  the 
right  of  the  war  as  it  was — but  would  not  endure  the  increase 
of  territory.' 

The  Right  Hon.   W.  E.   Gladstone  to  the  Bishop  of 
Winchester. 

,  July  27,  1870. 

My  dear  Bishop  of  Winchester, — One  line  to  thank  you 
very  heartily  for  your  account  of  Guizot's  most  interesting 
conversation. 

His  view  of  England  is  more  comforting  than  his  view 
of  the  war. 

It  is  not  for  me  to  distribute  praise  and  blame  :  but  I 
think  the  war  as  a  whole,  and  the  state  of  things  out  of 
which  it  has  grown,  deserve  a  severer  condemnation  than 
any  which  the  nineteenth  century  has  exhibited  since  the 
Peace  of  1 81 5.     Yours  affectionately, 

W.  E.  Gladstone. 

The  v^eek  spent  at  Val  Richer  was  indeed  to  the 
Bishop  one  of  singular  delight.  The  arrangements  of 
the  day  exactly  suited  him.  The  ddjcnner  at  half-past 
eleven  o'clock,  being  the  first  meeting  of  the  family, 
gave  him  several  undisturbed  hours  for  writing.  Then 
came  the  afternoon  walk  to  some  chateau  or  other 
place  of  interest  in  the  neighbourhood.  The  dinner 
hour,  not  so  late  as  in  England,  left  ample  time  for  a 
long  evening  on  the  terrace,  to  which  we  always 
adjourned,  the  weather  being  perfect,  for  coffee  and 


1870.  M.   GUIZOTS  RECOLLECTIONS.  357 

liqueurs,  and  where  we  outsate  the  twihght,  drawing 
from  the  rich  stores  of  the  old  statesman's  memory- 
reminiscences  of  earlier  French  political  history  as  well 
as  of  more  recent  events  in  which  he  had  himself  been 
concerned.  I  remember  the  touching  way  in  which  he 
described  one  incident  in  the  Revolution  of  1848. 
*  Paris,'  he  said,  *  was  in  the  hands  of  the  mob.  The 
Queen  had  been  seconding  the  Minister  in  his  en- 
deavour to  prevail  upon  the  King  to  sign  the  order  for 
the  troops  to  act.  I  drew  the  order  and  presented  it 
for  signature.  The  King  took  the  pen  in  his  hands, 
began  to  write — then  hesitated,  and  finally  gave  back 
the  paper  unsigned.'  *  And  the  Queen  ? '  I  asked. 
'  Ah  ! '  replied  M.  Guizot,  *  she  was  wife  first — Queen 
second.     She  said  no  more.' 

Another  frequent  subject  of  discussion  was  the 
religious  condition  of  France — the  alienation  of  the 
upper  classes  from  the  Church — the  priesthood  wholly 
drawn  from  the  lower  orders.  '  I  know,'  our  host 
once  said,  '  that  I  could  not  have  stayed  for  a  week  in 
a  country-house  like  this  in  England  without  meeting 
the  rector  of  the  parish.  But  here,  there  is  not  a  cure 
within  the  whole  district  whom  I  could  ask  to  my 
table.' 

The  present  condition  and  prospects  of  French 
Protestantism  were  also  discussed.  Although  himself 
a  Protestant,  M.  Guizot  did  not,  I  think,  expect  any 
revival  of  religion  from  this  quarter.  He  regretfully 
confirmed  a  statement  about  which  he  was  asked  that 
the  French  Protestants  were  deeply  tainted  with 
Unitarianism. 

Here  follow  extracts  from  the  Bishop's  diary. 

July  23. — On  to  Bernay — excellent  model  for  church  for 
us.  On  to  Lisieux — where  Guizot's  carriage,  and  to  Val 
Richer.     Received  most  kindly  by  the  good  patriarch — son- 

VOL.  III.  *A  A  3 


35S  LIFE   OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.      chap.  xiii. 

in-law  De  Witt  and  two  daughters  and  three  nieces.  Exceed- 
ingly tired.  The  heat  most  overwhelming  day  and  night, 
A  great  deal  of  talk  with  Guizot. 

July  24. — {Val  Richer.) — M.  Guizot  read  us  a  sermon 
of  Bossuet  on  *  Predication  of  Gospel.'  Afternoon  walked 
with  Madame  de  Witt  to  parish  church  for  catechising  and 
vespers.  Then  talk  with  Guizot  in  room — and  walk.  He 
said : — 

'  Not  a  word  of  truth  in  the  common  statement  that  par- 
simony ruined  Louis-Philippe.  So  far  from  hoarding  he 
spent  some  40  millions  of  his  own — restoring  Versailles,  &c. 
If  he  had  not  lost  his  head  the  eineiite  would  have  been  quite 
easily  subdued.  Marshal  Bugeaud,  far  the  ablest  French 
general  I  have  ever  known,  would  have  put  it  all  down  at 
once.  All  his  arrangements  were  made,  and  in  two  days  all 
would  have  been  quiet.  The  King  lost  his  head.  He  said 
when  he  addressed  the  Garde  Nationale  and  they  cried  out 
Reform,  "But  you  have  reform."  When  they  continued 
shouting  Reform,  he  turned  round  and  said,  "  They  are  mad." 
He  said,  "  I  shall  be  sent  to  the  Chateau  d'Eu — and  in  a  few 
days  they  will  want  me  back."  When  we  resigned  he  said, 
**A  vous  la  gloire,  a  moi  la  honte."  At  11  at  night  when 
Thiers  had  not  accepted,  he  sent  to  me  again :  would  I 
sign  the  decree  .■'  I  sent  for  my  Ministre  d'Interieur,  and  he 
and  I  signed  the  decree  for  Bugeaud  to  put  down  the  emeute. 
At  6  the  next  morning  Odillon  Barrot  had  accepted,  and 
stopped  all  Bugeaud's  proceedings.  The  Queen  was  too  en- 
tirely his  wife  to  counsel  resistance. 

*  Of  all  the  men  now  in  command  Trochu  is  the  most 
promising,  "  I'homme  de  I'avenir."  Bugeaud  could  command. 
The  soldiers  trusted  and  would  follow  him.  So  would  they 
Changarnier,  though  he  was  harder  to  the  men  than  Bugeaud. 
Marmont  was  only  an  officer  of  artillery.  In  the  battle  of 
Salamanca  Marmont  was  wounded  and  carried  out,  and 
Marshal  Clausel  succeeded.  The  Duke  of  Wellington  said — 
"  There  is  a  change  in  the  French  General — I  must  be  more 
cautious."  He  was  right.  Napoleon  in  one  of  his  rages 
treated  M.  Talleyrand  with  great  contempt  and  even  abuse 
before  all.     Talleyrand  sat  quite  still,  leaning  on  his  elbows. 


1870,  CONVERSATIONS   WITH  M.   GUIZOT.  359 

When  Napoleon  had  gone  out,  he  said  aloud  before  all,  "  C'est 
dommage  quand  les  rois  sont  mal  eleves." ' 

July  25. — Morning,  read,  wrote.  Woodford  and  A.  Gordon. 
Early  walk.     Afternoon  we  walked  to  the  village  schools. 
After  dinner  visit  of  Sous-Prefet  and  wife  and  Medecin — all 
very  curious.     Arthur  Gordon  went  and  took  letters  for  me. 
Much  talk  with  Guizot  at  night.     He  talked  of  the  Cure  and 
French  Church.     'The  Cure  is  very  good — full  of  charity. 
Will  send  away  his  own  dinner  to  the  poor.     So  they  have  a 
real  love  for  him,  but  he  has  no  influence.     He  is  not  able. 
He  is  "  chairman."     They  want  him.     They  would  quarrel  so 
among  themselves — he  adjusts  matters.     The  women  many 
of    them    believe — yet   there   is   great   immorality — bastard 
children,  &c.     The  men  do  not  believe.     I  doubt  if  one  in 
this  village  believes.     They  come  to  Communion  because  it 
is  respectable.     The   Cures  all  from  peasant  class.      When 
one  is  really  able  he  gets  influence.     Many  more   of   the 
Bishops  would  have  protested  against  the  infallibility  if  they 
dared.     But  they  are  afraid  of  their  parish  priests,  who  are 
very  ignorant.     Still,  though  the  position   of  one  of  these 
(Bishops)  returning  home  is  not  very  pleasant,  he  will  be  sup- 
ported by  a  great  deal  of  public  opinion  on  his  side.     The 
income  of  a  Bishop  700/.  a  year  and  his  house  kept  in  repair. 
The  Cure  here  about  50/.,  his  house  kept  in  repair.     Cure's 
servant  must  be  above  50 — and  seems  chosen  for  ugliness.' 

July  26. — Morning  early.  Prayers,  &c.  Read,  After 
dejeuner  walked  with  Guizot  and  all  the  family  to  a  neigh- 
bouring chateau.  Very  interesting.  The  old  buildings, 
pigeons,  &c.,  so  much  the  same  as  of  old.  Chapel  turned 
into  granary.  Much  talk  with  Guizot.  'On  one  occasion, 
some  four  years  before  his  fall,  the  King  seized  both  my 
hands  and  said  :  "  M.  Guizot,  you  are  an  old  Roman  !  "  He 
felt  that  he  was  not^one  himself.  He  was,  however,  personally 
brave.  I  have  seen  him  ride  calm  up  to  men  in  insurrection, 
whilst  they  were  pointing  their  guns  at  him,  without  any  sign 
of  fear.  His  weakness  was  love  of  popularity.  He  could  not 
bear  unpopularity.  He  said,  "  What  is  the  use  of  serving  this 
people  who  judge  you  so  unjustly  ?  "  When  I  came  to  see 
them  first  at  Claremont,  Nemours  took  both  my  hands  and 


360  LIFE   OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.      chap.  xiii. 

said  :  "  We  were  lost  when  we  parted  from  you,"  .  .  .  Thiers 
is  not  a  bad  man.  He  is  indiscreet,  but  he  is  not  a  bad  man. 
.  .  .  The  present  Archbishop  of  Paris  is  a  clever  man.  He 
is  honest  to  man.  He  is  not  honest  to  God.  He  is  fair  to 
man.  He  licensed  a  book  reflecting  most  unjustly  on  the 
Protestants.  I  spoke  to  him  about  it,  and  he  said  :  "  Sir,  I 
have  done  wrong.  I  should  never  have  licensed  it.  I  will 
recall  m.y  licence."  The  King  was  personally  fond  of  Thiers. 
I  never  could  be  familiar  with  anyone.  Thiers  could,  and 
Louis-Philippe  liked  it.  Louis  XVHI.  was  a  clever  and 
prudent  man.  He  showed  his  bed  in  his  room  to  a  friend  of 
mine,  and  said,  "  I  hope  to  die  in  that  bed."  He  added,  "  I 
wish  I  could  think  my  brother  would  too."  Charles  X.  was 
quite  without  political  sagacity,  and  Polignac  was  an  idiot.' 

In  answer  to  a  question  Guizot  said  :  '  No,  I  do  not  think 
his  son  (the  Emperor's)  will  succeed  ;  and,  if  not,  after  two 
years'  trouble,  they  recall  the  Orleanist  Princes.  I  think 
Nemours  is  the  cleverest  of  them.' 

On  leaving  Val  Richer  we  pursued  our  way  to 
Granville.  Two  places  on  the  road  more  especially 
awakened  the  Bishop's  interest,  Falaise  and  Cout- 
ances. 

In  the  Castle  of  Falaise  we  stopped  for  a  few 
minutes  at  the  head  of  a  flight  of  stairs  before  entering 
the  room  in  which  William  the  Conqueror  is  said, 
probably  without  sufficient  reason,  to  have  been  born, 
when  I  noticed  a  group  of  women  busied  in  some 
employment,  I  knew  not  what,  beside  a  little  stream  in 
the  valley.  '  What  are  they  doing  ? '  the  Bishop 
asked.  '  Washing  skins  in  the  stream,'  our  guide 
answered.  More  than  800  years  before,  Robert,  after- 
wards Duke  of  the  Normans,  had  looked  upon  the 
same  scene  as  he  returned  from  hunting,  and  Arlette, 
the  tanner's  daughter,  had  become  the  mother  of  the 
Conqueror.  I  remember  well  the  Bishop's  far-away 
look  as  his  mind  seemed  to  sweep  over  those  centuries 


1870.  HOMAGE   TO  AN  ENGLISH  BISHOP.  361 

of  change  which  had  left  unchanged  that  picture  of 
village  life.  The  diary  for  that  day  records,  '  Train  to 
Falaise — wonderful  sameness  of  Then  and  Now! 

Coutances  had  a  special  interest  for  the  Bishop 
in  that  the  Channel  Islands  were  formerly  a  part  of 
the  diocese  of  Coutances.  He  was  much  pleased  also 
with  the  following  incident : — 

On  the  morning  after  our  arrival  we  went  before 
breakfast  to  the  Cathedral  and  ascended  one  of  the 
towers,  from  which  the  Bishop,  according  to  his  wont, 
began  v/ith  the  help  of  our  guide  to  identify  the 
various  points  in  the  landscape.  Suddenly  to  our 
surprise  the  guide  (a  very  fat  woman)  dropped  on  her 
knees,  not  without  difficulty,  in  the  narrow  leaden 
gutter  in  which  we  were  standing  between  the  battle- 
ment and  the  root  of  the  spire.  She  had  seen  on  his 
finger  the  episcopal  ring  and  this  was  her  act  of 
homage.  But  more  was  to  follow.  We  went  back  to 
the  hotel  to  breakfast,  and  soon  afterwards,  upon  my 
return  from  making  arrangements  for  our  start,  I  found 
the  Bishop  in  great  good  humour.  '  You  should  have 
been  here,'  he  said.  '  I  have  just  had  a  deputation 
from  the  Cathedral — the  premier  Vicaire,  the  seconde 
Vicaire  and  others — our  guide  seems  to  have  told 
them  of  my  being  here  and  they  came  to  beg  that  we 
will  leave  the  hotel  and  let  them  entertain  us.  The 
Bishop  of  Coutances  has  not  yet  returned  from  Rome, 
or  he  would  have  himself  come  to  invite  us.  I  have 
fully  explained  to  them  who  I  am,  and  that  I  am  on 
my  way  to  my  Visitation  of  the  Channel  Islands,  so 
that  they  are  under  no  mistake.' 

We  were  obliged  to  leave  Coutances  that  day,  but 
the  Bishop  often  reverted  to  the  courtesy  of  this 
official  recognition  of  his  office. 

On  August  I  we  reached  Jersey  and  became  the 


o 


62  LIFE   OF  BISHOP   WILBERFORCE.      chap.  xiii. 


guests  of  General  and  Mrs.  Guy  at  Government 
House.  The  time  apportioned  to  the  Channel  Islands 
was  a  clear  fortnight,  including  a  Sunday  at  Jersey 
and  another  at  Guernsey.  The  Bishop's  life  during 
this  period  reverted,  as  the  diary  shows,  In  a  great 
deoree  to  its  usual  character  in  EnMand.  The  fort- 
night's  sojourn  in  the  islands  was  indeed  an  epitome 
of  his  whole  diocesan  work.  Two,  sometimes  three 
Confirmations  were  held  daily,  diversified  by  Visita- 
tions of  the  Clergy,  the  opening  of  a  school,  sermons, 
inspection  of  orphanages  and  industrial  schools,  &c., 
the  intervals  being  filled  up  with  letter-writing.  We 
found  160  letters  awaiting  us  at  Government  House. 

We  arrived  in  Guernsey  on  Monday,  August  8, 
after  a  rough  passage  from  Jersey,  and  were  met  on 
the  quay  by  the  Dean  of  Guernsey  and  other  clergy- 
men of  the  island.  They  told  us  that  we  had  come  at 
a  moment  when  a  heavy  cloud  rested  upon  the  town  in 
consequence  of  the  death  of  one  of  the  most  revered  of 
the  clergy,  the  Rev.  C.  S.  Guille,  Rector  of  St.  Peter 
Port,  whose  work  had  been  prematurely  cut  short  at 
the  age  of  thirty-eight  years,  and  who  was  to  be  buried 
on  that  morning.  The  Bishop  immediately  prepared 
to  go  straight  to  the  cemetery  and  to  officiate  at  the 
funeral,  and  did  so. 

The  first  act  of  the  chief  pastor  in  Guernsey  was 
thus  to  lay  into  the  earth  the  remains  of  one  who  had 
been  called  from  his  work  at  mid-day.  The  last  act 
before  leaving  was  to  commit  the  apostolic  ministry  to 
new  hands.  No  record  existed  of  an  Ordination 
having  been  previously  held  in  Guernsey — the  rite  had 
certainly  never  been  performed  there  since  the  Re- 
formation. It  was  resolved  therefore  to  Q-ive  the 
Island-Church  an  opportunity  of  witnessing  the  solemn 
administration  of  Holy  Orders  in  the  fine  church  of  St. 


1870.  DIARY  IN  CHANNEL  ISLANDS.  363 

Peter  Port.  There  were,  I  believe,  only  three  can- 
didates, but  these  sufficed  to  enable  the  Bishop  on  the 
last  Sunday  to  crown  his  visitation  of  the  Channel 
Islands  with  the  public  exercise  of  the  highest  function 
of  his  office,  with  all  that  singular  dignity  and  im- 
pressiveness  which  he  pre-eminently  imparted  to  it. 


In  the  following  extracts  from  the  diary,  the 
Bishop  himself  describes  the  employments  of  each 
day,  and  the  return  to  England  : — 

August  I. — Very  kindly  received  by  General  Guy  and  Mrs. 
160  letters  ;  worked  hard  at  them  with  Woodford.  Received 
the  Clergy,  the  Bailiff,  and  the  Viscount.  Drove  to  Fort, 
Harbour,  &c.,  with  the  Dean.     A  quiet  and  pleasant  evening. 

August  2. — Up  at  quarter  to  six.  Worked  at  French 
Charge  to  confirmes.  Letters,  &c.  Then  to  a  Confirmation 
at  M.  Le  Sueur's.  Striking  from  extraordinary  attention.  I 
overcome,  and  Woodford  greatly,  and  Le  Sueur.  Long  talk 
with  him  after  about  schools,  &c.  Then  to  Castle  Orgueil, 
Orphanage,  Asylum,  Industrial  School.    Party  at  Governor's. 

August  3. — To  St.  Luke's.  Woodford  preached,  '  Through 
the  gates  into  the  city.'  Opening  of  Schools.  Then  back  to 
Government  House.  Confirmation  at  St.  Heliers,  very  full. 
Drove  to  Bon  Muet.     Dined  Bailiff's. 

August  4. — Heavy  rain,  in  which  to  St.  Simons.  A  very 
large  and  attentive  congregation  and  a  bright  chanted  service  : 
rather  too  long.  I  preached  on  *  Waiting  for  the  promise.' 
Then  to  State's  committee  room  about  M.  Le  Sueur's  closed 
school.  Then  Prince's  Tower  and  saw  French  coast.  Public 
dinner  at  Imperial.     Speaking.    Great  cordiality  on  all  sides. 

August  5. — Beautiful  drive  to  St.  Ouen's  church  with 
Dean  and  Woodford.  Greatly  struck  with  the  massive  beauty 
and  colour  of  the  church.  Restoration  excellent.  Between 
4  and  5,000/.  spent,  got  together  by  Clement.  Preached  on 
Heb.  ix.  24.  Luncheon  at  the  school.  Spoke.  Confirma- 
tion. Then  on  to  Gros  Nez  point.  The  sea  and  rocks  very 
grand.     To  Col.  Le  Coutcur,  where  dined. 


364  LIFE  OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.      chap.  xiii. 

Ajigust  6. — Up  very  early  and  prepared  Charge.  Service 
at  Town  Church,  which  full.  Delivered  Charge  unwritten. 
People  very  attentive.  Then  met  Clergy  and  Churchwardens. 
Then  College  and  on  to  Rozel. 

August  8. — Up  at  5  and  off  in  heavy  rain  in  large  packet- 
boat.  Many  of  Clergy  on  the  pier  to  say  farewell.  Fair 
passage  to  Guernsey.  Dean,  Principal,  &c.,  all  kind.  To 
Governor's,  and  drove  round  Island.  Dinner  quiet  at  Eliza- 
beth College. 

August  9. — Basil,  C.  and  Herbert  arrived  from  Southamp- 
ton. Received  Court  and  Clergy.  Confirmation  at  Vale 
Church.     A  party  at  the  College. 

August  12. — Early  off  to  Sark.  A  charming  day.  De- 
licious passage  in  '  Dasher.'  Confirmation  primitive  at  Cache- 
maille.     Back  to  dine  with  Bailiff — large  party. 

August  14. — Ordination  at  Town  Church.  Excellent 
sermon  by  Woodford  on  '  new  song,'  a  nice  service  through- 
out. Afternoon,  I  preached  on  Elijah  in  weakness  to 
immense  congregation.  Walked  pier  with  C — ,  Bas.  and 
Herbert — quiet,  pleasant  evening. 

August  15. — Wrote  many  letters.  Visited  Victor  Hugo's 
house.  Off  at  4.45,  and  after  lively  voyage,  well  accom- 
plished, reached  Alderney,  D.G.,  safe.  With  Basil  to  Judge 
L 's  house. 

Ajcgust  16. —  Over  Fort  Albert,  where  only  one  rifled 
gun  !  Then  a  very  nice  Confirmation  in  beautiful  church  of 
G.  Scott's,  built  by  Le  Mesurier.  Then  off  by  'Dasher.' 
Four  hours,  and  over  to  Cherbourg.  Walked  about  Cher- 
bourg, and  dined  and  slept  at  Hotel  des  Bains. 

The  Bishop  of  Winchester  to  the  Rev.  T.  V.  Fosbery. 

Cherbourg  :  August  17,  1870. 

My  dearest  Fosbery, — Many  thanks  for  yours  of  August  7, 
which  found  me  in  the  Channel  Islands.  How  'The  Pa- 
triarch '  took  them  to  do  them  so  easily,  as  you  intimate,  is 
more  than  I  understand.  They  gave  me  incessant  work  from 
early  morning  to  late  night.  It  has  been  a  most  interesting 
time.  I  do  not  know  that  I  ever  saw  Confirmations,  sermons, 
&c.,  produce  so  much  effect.     May  it  please  God  to  make 


i87o.  RETURN  TO  ENGLAND,  365 

some  results  enduring  to  the  glory  of  the  name  of  Christ.  I 
left  Alderney  after  a  very  nice  Confirmation  yesterday,  and 
came  on  to  Cherbourg.  We  slept  there,  and  I  am  now  in 
the  rail  carriage  to  Rouen.  We  mean  to  sleep  to-morrow  at 
Boulogne  and  home.  Friday  or  Saturday  I  go  to  Lavington. 
I  am  very  much  interested  with  all  you  told  me  of  Readino- 
and  the  close  of  your  loving  faithful  ministry  there — the  fruit 
of  that  will  meet  you  again,  my  beloved  old  friend,  at  the 
great  day.  I  shall  be  rejoiced  to  hear  from  you  again.  .  .  . 
I  am  ever,  my  dearest  Fosbery,  your  very  loving  old  friend, 

S.  WiNTON. 

August  17. — {C/ierboiirg)  Off  early  for  Lisieux  and 
Rouen.  Hotel  d'Angleterre.  Dined  at  tablc-cT hote.  Ex- 
traordinary silence  and  sadness.  The  commander  of  the 
district  and  his  wife.  He  at  times  quite  overcome,  as  if  he 
could  not  swallow.  Late  at  night  '  good  news,  which  must 
be  kept  secret  because  of  Prussian  spies,  sent  round  by 
Government'  It  amounted  to  Marshal  Bazaine  having  a 
plan  for  surrounding  Prussians.  At  an  evening  service  for 
the  war  at  the  Cathedral, 

August  18. — Early  out,  and  saw  several  churches  with 
Woodford.  A  large  communion  in  the  Cathedral.  After 
breakfast  off  for  Amiens.  To  Boulogne,  where  H.  and  E. 
We  dined  at  Pavilion  Imperial.     With  E.  to  fair. 

August  19. — With  E.  to  Cathedral.  A  musical  mass: 
utter  mummery,  shamefully  disfiguring  the  blessed  Sacra- 
ment. A  sermon  after  by  a  Dominican  :  some  power  of 
preaching,  but  quite  wrong  on  doctrine  as  to  God's  second 
thoughts — a  monstrous  piece  of  Mariolatry.  *  She  was  our 
mother — so  from  Eternity.  She  the  Wisdom  with  whom  the 
Father  communed  in  the  Eternity  !  Her  sorrow  under  the 
cross  travail  pangs  of  millions  of  souls!'  I  intensely  de- 
pressed. Then  to  ramparts :  fair.  Aquarium  excellent. 
And  so,  after  doubts,  crossed  well  in  high  wind  from  north- 
east to  Folkestone  and  London. 

August  20. — Thanks  be  to  God,  who  has  kept  my  going 
out  and  coming  in.  Wrote  with  Woodford  and  Basil.  He  off 
for  Southsea,  Woodford  for  Leeds,  and  then  I  to  Lavington, 


366  LIFE  OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.      chap.  xill. 

where,  of  God's  mercy,  all  well  and  dearly  welcoming.  A 
great  melancholy  on  me,  as  always  on  returning — as  if  I 
should  meet  IIER,  and  cannot  find  her ;  and  dear  F.'s  grievous 
state.  Yet  how  gracious  God  !  How  I  long  yet  to  serve 
Him  better. 

The  next  letter,  to  Miss  Thornton,  bears  also  upon 
this  visit  to  PVance  and  the  Channel  Islands. 

The  Bis  hop  of  Winchester  to  Miss  M.  A.  Thornton. 

Lavington  :  September  17. 

My  dear  Marianne  Thornton, — No !  I  escaped  from 
France  :  but  my  home  passage  through  it  showed  me  one 
of  the  saddest  sights  I  ever  saw.  They  were  beginning  to 
wake  up  to  the  truth  of  their  position,  and  to  smart  under 
the  miseries  of  war;  and  their  capricious,  vain,  chivalrous, 
self-contradicting  nature  rose  like  a  balloon  and  collapsed 
like  a  balloon  with  a  perfectly  astounding  rapidity  of  alterna- 
tion. .  .  .  We  are  sending  out  questions  through  the  diocese. 
We  ought  to  occupy  Clapham  before  the  Prussians  come  and 

take  away  our  creeds  and  formularies.     But is  lingering 

like  the  HI.  Nap.  and  will  not  his  curates  act  like  the  Field- 
Marshals  and  either  get  lost  on  the  Common,  or  shut  up  in 
some  antiquated  Metz }  I  found  Richmond's  picture  on 
going  a  few  days  back  to  Winchester  House,  and  I  do  so 
thank  you  for  it.  It  looked  fresh  and  bright  as  if  it  was 
painted  yesterday.  I  put  it  reverently  into  a  wardrobe, 
guarded,  I  hope,  from  smoke  and  dust  till  we  re-inhabit  that 
house,  when  you  will  come  and  see  it.  I  am  just  off  on 
diocesan   wanderings  till  November.       I    am    affectionately 

y^"^^'  S.  WINTON. 

August  23. — {Lavington^  Wrote  till  4,  and  then  rode 
to  Drove.  ]\Irs.  Denman  there,  very  charming.  Rode  home. 
Read  '  Misunderstood,'  very  touching  and  truthful. 

September  I. — [Hw'sley.)  To  church,  &c.  After  luncheon, 
Winchester  with  Bas.  and  A.  Mildmay.  The  wonderful  news 
of  M'Mahon  and  Emperor's  surrender  to  King  of  Prussia. 
Service  in  Cathedral  sadly  poor,  but  a  good  many  present. 
Took  Bas.  to  room  of  his  birth — deeply  moved. 


1870.  DIARY.  ^A.7 

To  his  son  Ernest  the  Bishop  writes  : — 

Hursley  Park  :  Sept.  4,  1870. 

We  have  been  at  this  beautiful  church  this  morning.  I 
celebrated.  The  Bishop  of  Salisbury  preached  an  excellent 
sermon  ;  it  seemed  to  me  as  if  Keble's  spirit  was  with  us  in 
communion  there. 

Sept.  9. 

I  am  studying  the  diocese  desperately. 

London  :  Oct.  19. 

I  am  just  off  after  a  day's  work,  which  has  almost  left  me 

deaf,  for  Yorkshire,  to  marry  W to-morrow   morning. 

There  is  nothing  new  in  the  family  or  in  the  nation  to  tell 
you,  and  it  is  an  old  thing  indeed  to  try  and  tell  you  how  I 
love  you. 

September  28. — {Dogsvicrsfield)  After  breakfast  off  with 
Cardwell  to  London.  Wrote  a  little.  Saw  Eyre,  Elsdale, 
Gregory,  Dunning,  Olivier,  &c.  University  Assurance.  Sat 
some  time  with  Gladstone.  Full  as  ever  of  intellect  and 
interest  on  all  subjects.  France  and  Prussia :  hoping  that 
for  the  present  great  sacrifice  of  life  over.  Talked  of  '  West- 
minster scandal' — the  'right  name.'  Of  little  import  when 
merely  Stanley's  eccentricity ;  but  the  Bishops'  speeches, 
especially  Bishop  of  Salisbury's.  '  How  difficult  with  temper 
of  House  of  Commons  to  maintain  Church,  if  such  the  in- 
ternal voice.  No  organic  change  will  be  made  whilst  I  am 
in  power.  But  that  may  be  a  short  time.'  Equally  full  about 
Pope  and  Manning. 

October  4. — {Titsey.)  After  breakfast  rode  with  Miss 
Master  to  Godstone,  Saw  dear  old  Mrs,  Hoare — and  Church. 
Rode  over  hill  to  Marden.'^  Saw  my  room,  and  where  we 
played  at  battledore.  Rode  to  Warlingham.  Rail  to 
Croydon.  Consecration  at  Carshalton  and  Bcddington. 
Drove  to  Banstcad.     Saw  Church  and  old  Walpole. 

October  21. — {Ossi?igt07i)  Set  off  after  morning  writing 
with  Speaker  for  Ollerton.  P'our  riding  horses  sent  on  for 
ride  about  Sherwood  Forest,  and  then  to  Thoresby.  Rain 
came  on,  and  I  stayed  at  the  inn  at   Ollerton,  and  wrote. 

*  Mardcn  Park. 


368  LIFE   OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.      chap.  xill. 

Drove  in  fly  to  Thoresby,  Saw  new  house,  &c.  Then  back 
to  Ollerton.  The  day  cleared,  and  we  had  a  charming  forest 
ride,  and  home.     Lord  and  Lady  Manvers  dined. 

October  2"^. — {Lea)  Walked  with  Anderson:  much  talk 
of  our  darling.^  After  luncheon  off,  he  going  with  me  to 
Lincoln  for  London.  Wonderful  aurora  over  Peterborough. 
All  the  coloured  columns  converging  into  one  ground  over- 
head. Athenaeum,  and  back  to  bed  in  the  large  lone  room 
late. 

October  29. —  {Polesden)  Wrote  early.  After  breakfast 
absolutely  on  horseback  for  Leith  Hill,  when  rain  began  and 
continued  all  day.  I  worked  hard,  and  got  off  some  eighty 
letters. 

November  10. — {Uppark.)  Wrote  morning, and  rode  down 
to  Havant.  Saw  Olivier.  Rode  home,  seeing  Stone  and 
Sir  Jervoise.  Wrote  again.  In  night  seized  with  violent 
spasms  at  the  heart.  Called  Reg.,  who  for  hours  with  me. 
Seemed  very  like  the  end  coming  and  tried  indeed  to  com- 
mit myself  to  Him  ;  but  prayed  to  live,  much  for  my  children. 

This  was  the  second  of  these  attacks.  Early  in 
the  year  the  Bishop  had  had  the  first.  It  is  a  remark- 
able fact,  that  though  his  children  were  not  privileged 
to  be  with  him  in  his  last  hour  on  earth,  yet  each 
one  of  his  sons  was  with  him,  separately,  on  these 
occasions.  This  seizure  was  perhaps  the  most  violent 
of  all,  and  was  entirely  owing  to  the  immense  strain  to 
which  he  was  subjecting  his  bodily  and  mental  powers. 
The  Bishop  called  his  son  Reginald  (the  writer  of 
these  pages)  at  about  two  o'clock  in  the  morning,  who 
remained  by  his  father's  bedside,  occasionally  admin- 
istering sal  volatile.  At  half-past  four  the  Bishop 
became  pulseless,  his  face  quite  white,  and  the  action 
of  his  heart  scarcely  perceptible.  His  son  thereupon 
gave  a  dose  of  almost  pure  sal  volatile,  the  Bishop 
opened  his  eyes,  and  as  his  son  bent  down  he  could  just 

«  Jilrs.  Ernest  Wilberforce,  Sir  Charles  Anderson's  daughter. 


i87o.  ALARMING  ILLNESS.  369 

catch  the  words,  *  Good-by,  my  boy,  I  am  going  home 
at  last'  But  soon  afterwards  he  sank  into  a  peaceful 
sleep,  the  pulse  gradually  returned,  and  at  six  o'clock 
his  son  was  able  to  leave  him,  the  attack  having  passed 
off. 

The  Bishop  of  Winchester  to  the  Archbishop  of  Dublin. 

October  29,  1870. 

The  blow  I  have  so  long  foreboded  has  fallen,  and  our 
beloved  F.  has  been  taken  from  us.  It  is  a  grievous  loss  to 
me ;  for  never  was  more  light  and  love  given  through  any 
one  than  through  her. 

This  refers  to  the  death  of  Mrs.  Ernest  Wilber- 
force,  of  consumption,  at  San  Remo.  The  constant 
references  to  her  in  the  Bishop's  diary  show  how  great 
was  his  affection  for  her  and  how  deeply  he  felt  her 
loss.^ 

To  Mr.  Gordon  the  Bishop  thus  writes  : — 

November  10. 

I  am  reading  with  the  deepest  interest  the  letters  you 
have  lent  me.^  How  your  father's  character  stands  out.  I 
should  exceedingly  like  to  see  the  next  volume. 

December  12. 

You  will  very  greatly  delight  me  if  you  will  lend  me  the 
next  volume  of  your  father's  letters.  I  have  finished  this 
with  ever-increasing  interest,  ever-growing  reverence  for  his 
great  just  character,  kindly  affection,  and  discerning  intellect. 
The  true  holding  of  the  scales  is  almost  beyond  precedent. 

December  i. — {Peper  Harrow})  Voice  so  gone  that  I  got 
Mr.  Wilson  at  last  moment  to  preach.  Could  scarcely  speak 
in  chair  at  the  school.  Back,  and  drove  round  Park  Wrote. 
Very  pleasant  evening. 

December  2. — Off  early  for  Southsea.     Bishop  of  Guiana 

'  The  Rev.  E.  R.  Wilberforce,  now  Lord  Bishop  of  Newcastle,  married,  in 
1874,  Emily,  daughter  of  the  Rev.  G.  Connor,  Chaplain  to  the  Queen  and 
Vicar  of  Newport,  Isle  of  Wight. 

*  Lord  Aberdeen's  letters. 

VOL.  in.  B  B 


370  LIFE   OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.      chap.  xill. 

came  to  help  me  most  kindly  ;  but  I  struggled  through,  letting 
him  confirm  the  bo}^s.  Then  to  Elson,  and  with  difficulty 
preached.     Then  to  Sir  A,  Clifford's, 

December  4. — At  Confirmation  address.  With  Arch- 
deacon Utterton  to  St.  Anne's,  Wandsworth.  The  Arch- 
deacon preached  most  kindly  for  me — my  voice  still  gone. 
On  to  Surbiton.  Confirmed — a  very  nice  Confirmation  all 
round. 

Dcccinhcr  5. — Seeing  people,  writing,  &c.  till  six.  Then  to 
Fulham,  where  Rochester,  Lichfield,  and  Oxford.  Mrs.  Jack- 
son did  not  appear,  but  the  young  ladies  numerous,  and  very 
kindly  and  pleasant.     Cheerful  evening. 

The  Bishop  held  his  Ordination  at  Winchester  this 
year  on  December  18,  and  attended  a  meeting  for  the 
Hampshire  Diocesan  Society^  on  the  19th,  With 
reference  to  this  meeting  Charles  Kingsley  wrote  to 
Mr.  Gordon  : 

'  Your  friend  the  Bishop  had  a  great  triumph  on  Monday 
at  Winchester  and  deserved  it.  A  born  ava^  dvSpoJv  he  is, 
and  I  will  do  my  best  to  support  him  on  his  throne.  He 
has  by  one  bold  move  got  the  whole  of  the  leading  laymen 
of  Hampshire  and  tJieir purses  on  his  side.  Knowing  of  men 
as  he  is,  I  doubt  whether  he  knows  how  much  good  he  did 
on  Monday ;  I,  after  nearly  thirty  years  as  a  Hampshire 
parson,  can  judge.' 

*  This  Society  was  an  amalgamation  of  the  existing  societies,  and  referring  to 
it  and  to  the  Bishop's  work  in  the  Winchester  Diocese,  one  of  the  Rural  Deans 
writes  : — 'The  large  towns  with  their  teeming  population  and  the  remote  countiy 
villages  were  equally  watched  over  and  visited  by  him.  It  was  his  habit  always 
to  carry  about  with  him  a  map,  and  to  underscore  with  red  every  parish  in  whiclr 
he  officiated.  The  original  map  was  rapidly  becoming  obliterated  by  the  red 
marks.  And  if  there  was  one  point  more  to  be  noticed  than  another  in  his  treat- 
ment of  a  diocese,  it  was  the  way  in  which  he  endeavoured  to  make  clergy  and 
laity  work  harmoniously  together.  This  was  specially  remarkable  in  the  quarterly 
meetings  of  the  Hants  Diocesan  Church  Association^an  association  which 
gathered  up  into  itself  the  various  diocesan  societies,  and  which  he  inaugurated 
shortly  after  he  came  to  the  diocese.  He  was  never  absent  from  a  single  one  of 
these  meetings,  and  none  could  fail  to  remark  how  earnestly  he  laboured  to  weld 
laity  and  clergy  together  into  one  homogeneous  body,  that  they  might  the  more 
effectually  carry  on  the  Church's  work.' 


1870.  END  OF  THE    YEAR.  37 1 

December  25. — {Lavijtgton.)  Celebration  at  8.30.  Some 
faint  gleams,  I  hope,  of  the  heavenly  light,  and  longing  for 
more.  All  oi  us  here  together,  D,G.  Then  to  Graffham — a 
nice,  bright,  happy  service.  In  afternoon  I  preached  on  Peace 
on  earth.     Wrote  several  Diocese  letters  with  beloved  Ernest. 

December  30. — To  St.  Leonard's.  Luncheon  at  Mr.  Robin- 
son's— very  hospitable.  Brassey  member  for  borough  and 
Gregory  M.P.  To  Hastings  with  Brassey,  who  seems 
thoroughly  good.  Liberal  Conservative.  G.  Hardy  his  best 
man.  Meeting  pretty  good,  and  then  to  Battle  Abbey. 
They  quite  alone,  and  very  welcoming.  A  good  deal  of  talk, 
political  and  other. 

December  31. — To  Hastings.  Called  on  Mrs.  Neale,  who 
wonderful  at  ninety,  quite  fresh  :  she  described  my  dear 
father's  exposition  one  New  Year's  day — humility — thank- 
fulness— trust.  Then  by  rail,  Ernest  joining  at  Ford  junction, 
and  calling  on  Bas.  About  sermon  on  to  Alverstoke.  I  worn 
with  journey.  And  so  ends  this  year  of  so  many  blessings, 
of  such  unspeakable  sadness.     My  darling  F.  gone ! 


;72  LIFE   OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.       chap.  xiv. 


CHAPTER   XIV. 

{1S71-1872.) 

THE  DIARY— LETTERS  TO  MISS  THORNTON — VISIT  TO  HATFIEI.D^CONFIRMA- 
XIONS — ANECDOTES — THE  DIARY — VISIT  TO  SCOTLAND — LETTER  TO  HIS 
DAUGHTER-IN-LAW — THE  GLENGARRY  SCANDAL — LETTERS  ABOUT — ILL- 
NESS OF  THE  PRINCE  OF  WALES  —  ATHANASIAN  CREED  —  SYNODICAL 
DECLARATION — THE  DIARY — THE  BISHOP  RECEIVES  ROMAN  CATHOLIC 
PRIEST— CONVERSATION  WITH  MR.  FORSTER— THE  DIARY— CHURCH  CON- 
GRESS AT  LEEDS — DESCRIPTIVE  LETTER  TO  REV.  H.  PEARSON — LETTERS 
TO   HIS   DAUGHTER-IN-LAW. 

January  i. — Alverstoke  Rectory.  Prepared  sermon. 
My  Ernest  went  to  Elson  and  preached  there.  I  preached 
morning  on  New  Year,  afternoon  on  'a  God  that  hidest  Thy- 
self.' Wrote  letters  after  with  Walpole  helping.  I  a  good 
deal  depressed.  New  Year's  Day  heavy  now  with  clouds. 
But  God's  promise  sure. 

January  25. — A  very  cold  night  and  snow  again.  Off 
with  Ernest  at  quarter  to  8.     To  London  for  Surrey  Church 

Association.     Long  discussion  on 's  motion  to  take  from 

the  Bishop  the  nominating  Missionary  Curates  :  only  two  for 
it,  all  the  rest  against  it,  D.  G.  After,  I  to  Farnham,  An 
immense  depression  on  me  for  present  and  future.  The 
Dear  Old  (Bishop)  so  broken  in  body  and  mind.  What 
Farnham  Castle  w-as  with  all  its  old  brightness — and  its 
future !  what  shall  I  do  here  if  I  live  to  come .''  Talk  with 
Gladstone  ;  as  ever  cordial. 

To  Miss  Thornton  the  Bishop  thus  writes  : — 

Tandridge  Court,  December  30,  1S70. 

It  has  been  a  Christmas  for  us  draped  in  sables,  and  the 
old  year  goes  sadly  out.  W'hat  will  the  new  year  bring  .-• 
Mercies,  I  know — may  it  be  rich  in  blessings  to  you. 


1 8; I.  VISIT  TO  HATFIELD.  -^jt^ 

January  S,  1S71. 

I  must  thank  you  for  the  valuable  extract  from  the  'Record ' 
which  you  have  sent  me.  How  dreadfully  ritualistic  it 
sounds  for  a  whole  Diocese  to  have  betaken  itself  to  prostra- 
tions. Shades  of  the  Claphamites,  begone  !  I  am  still  in 
day-by-day  work,  like  other  mend-i-cants.  I  have  been 
confirming  this  morning  at  Mr.  Wilk's,  Nursling.  Old 
'Christian  Observers 'looked  out  kindly  on  me  from  the  shelves. 
Pictures  once  belonging  to  H.  Martyn ;  quotations  from 
letters  from  our  fathers.  It  seemed  like  the  old  time  come 
back. 

The  Bishop  of  Winchester  to  Sir  Charles  Anderson. 

Stratton,  January  19,  187 1, 

My  dearest  Anderson, — We  spent  one  day  this  week  at 
Hatfield,  and  had  I  been  fit  for  enjoying  anything  I  should 
have  enjoyed  it  greatly.  Salisbury  is  a  very  fine  fellow :  such 
clear  grip  of  intellect  and  so  high-minded  in  everything.  We 
had  Bob  Lowe,  and  C.  P'ortescue  and  Lord  de  Grey,  whom  I 
always  like,  and  Sir  H.  Holland,  in  the  party.  Have  you 
read  Salisbury's  article  (the  last)  in  the  new  '  Quarterly '.?  I 
think  it  is  very  able.  My  dearest  Ernest  is  wonderfully 
brave  and  patient.  ...  I  can  pray  for  him  and  for  you,  dear 
old  friend,  so  stricken  as  you  are :  and  I  do  not  know  what 
else  to  do.     I  am  your  very  affectionate 

S.   WiNTON. 

February  21. — To  Richmond  with  Ernest  for  Confirmation 
— an  interesting  one.  Back  and  to  Queen's  Court :  very 
graciously  received  by  Her  and  all.  To  House  of  Lords  on 
Dilapidations  Bill.  Romilly's  exposure  of  ignorance.  Dined 
with  the  Chapter  at  Westminster — not  without  some  misgiving 
from  recent  passages  with  Dean  Stanley,  but  all  pleasant. 

February  23. — Received  many.  Then  Ecclesiastical 
Commission.  Home  and  wrote.  To  Breamore  via  Salis- 
bury for  Confirmation  with  my  Ernest.  My  heart  shrinks 
strangely  :  is  it  leaving  the  family,  which  I  never  did  before, 
being  in  lodgings,  or  age  t  At  Breamore  most  kindly 
received. 


374  Z//"^  OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.      CHAP.  xiv. 

This  was  the  beginning  of  one  of  the  Confirmation 
tours  in  Hampshire,  The  mere  reading  the  daily 
record  of  work  in  the  diary  produces  a  sensation  of 
bewildering  weariness.  Two  and  often  three  Confirma- 
tions a  day,  sermons,  addresses  to  children,  consecra- 
tions of  burial  grounds,  &c.,  the  constant  moving  about 
from  house  to  house,  and  the  packing  of  his  multitude 
of  books  and  papers,  made  a  daily  round  the  strain  of 
which  was  beginning  to  tell  even  on  him.  An  account 
of  a  week's  work  at  this  time  is  given  by  the  Rev.  W. 
Lucas,  of  Sopley  Vicarage,  Ringwood  : — 

In  February  1871  the  Bishop  spent  a  week  amongst  us 
in  this  deanery.  He  came  to  hold  an  Ordination  at  Ringwood, 
to  confirm  in  several  churches,  to  be  the  life  and  soul  of 
parochial  missions  held  simultaneously  in  the  four  towns  and 
some  of  the  villages  of  the  deanery,  and  to  make  acquaint- 
ance with  our  leading  laymen  by  staying  at  as  many  of  their 
houses  as  time  would  permit.  The  list  of  engagements  I 
arranged  for  him  under  these  various  heads — episcopal,  social, 
evangelistic — is  now  before  me  and  is  simply  appalling.  He 
had  stipulated  that  we  should  spare  him  after-dinner  work  ; 
but  this  was  not  always  practicable,  and  he  was  frequently  in 
harness  morning,  noon,  and  night. 

It  is  not  surprising  that  there  are  occasionally 
diary  entries  such  as  'very  much  exhausted,  hardly 
thought  I  could  preach  ; '  '  could  hardly  rise  to  go  down 
from  my  room  for  food  ; '  '  very  much  exhausted,  could 
scarcely  breathe  at  dinner,  or  eat  or  drink  ; '  '  utterly 
wearied  out  at  night.  Pains  in  back  waking  me  con- 
stantly. O  God,  Thou  knowest  the  weariness  of  this 
life.'  And  it  must  be  remembered  that  the  large  over- 
grown Winchester  diocese  was  in  a  very  different 
state  from  the  model  diocese  of  Oxford  as  it  was  after 
the  Bishop's  episcopate  of  twenty-four  years.  The 
diary  at  this  time  often  notes  at  Confirmations  *  some 


l87i.  A   FEW  STORIES.  375 

trouble  in  keeping  order,'  *  Confirmation  at  first  unruly,' 
'disorderly  Confirmation,'  'mob — got  it  quiet'  The 
long  illness  of  Bishop  Sumner  had  made  heavy  arrears 
of  work  for  his  successor. 

Archdeacon  Randall  writes  at  this  time  :  '  You  are 
doing,  as  of  old,  three  days'  work  in  one  ;  so  that  if  a 
man's  life  may  be  measured  by  his  work  your  age  is 
now  195  years  of  ordinary  mortals.'  The  Bishop  of 
Rochester  also  writes  :  '  You  have  introduced  such 
a  system  into  the  episcopate  that  one  has  time  for 
nothing.'  It  is  difficult  to  believe  what  Bishop  Wilber- 
force  once  told  Dr.  Woodford  (Bishop  of  Ely),  that  he 
was  naturally  indolent,  and  had  at  first  '  to  flog  himself 
up  to  his  work.' 

One  of  the  leading  laymen  with  whom  the  Bishop 
stayed  about  this  time,  Mr.  Wyndham  Portal,  has  sup- 
plied recollections  of  the  Bishop's  conversation,  which 
show  that,  however  wearied  he  was,  his  sense  of  humour 
never  deserted  him. 

'  A  conversation  arose  after  dinner  as  to  the  diffi- 
culty of  rendering  some  English  words  into  Latin. 
"  You  cannot  put  '  Hearse  '  into  Latin,"  said  one.  "  Oh, 
that  is  very  easy,"  said  the  Bishop  ;  "  Mors  omnibus." 

*  After  one  of  his  usual  hard  days'  work,  when  the 
rest  of  our  party  v/ent  up  to  bed,  the  Bishop  looked 
about  the  drawing-room  table  and  took  upstairs 
several  books.  I  went  with  him  to  his  room  to  see 
that  all  was  comfortable  and  as  he  wished.  Before  we 
parted,  he  looked  round  the  room  and  said  :  "  Coal- 
scuttle full,  good  ;  candles  long,  good  ;  a  comfortable 
chair,  good  ;  a  bath  and  water,  good.  My  nights  are 
a  bad  time  with  me.  I  frequently  have  to  get  up  and 
sit  in  my  chair,  and  I  try  to  read  myself  to  sleep  and 
then  I  move  stealthily  to  my  bed,  hoping  that  I  shall 
not  be  awoke  by  the  process." 


3/6  LIFE  OF  BISHOP   WILBERFORCE.      chap.  xiv. 

'  There  were  at  that  time  but  very  few  dioceses  in 
which  Diocesan  Conferences  or  Synods  were  held. 
When  expressing  a  hope  that  our  Bishop  would 
establish  them  in  his  Diocese,  he  expressed  his  strong 
disinclination  to  institute  them  "at  present."  "  I  know 
how  it  will  be,"  he  said  ;  "  the  Bishop  must  always  attend 
every  meeting,  while  you  laity  may  do  as  you  please. 
When  all  goes  well  and  smoothly  you  will  say,  '  See 
how  well  we  have  done  it'  When  there  is  a  failure 
from  any  cause,  it  will  then  be  said,  '  See  what  a 
muddle  the  Bishop  has  made  of  it.'  "  ' 

The  Bishop  of  Winchester  to  Sir  Charles  Anderson. 

St.  George's  Hill,  Byfleet,  IMarch  17,  1871. 

My  dearest  Anderson, — I  have  just  got  your  charming 
letter  of  yesterday.  Nobody  writes  such  letters  as  you  do. 
They  are  quite  delightful  to  me,  and  to-night,  when  I  have 
come  in  very  much  tired  after  two  very  exciting  stirring 
Confirmations  and  had  your  letter  which  by  a  mistake  I 
had  left  at  home  this  morning,  it  quite  soothed  and  cheered 
me.  I  agree  with  you  in  every  word  you  say  about  the 
labourers,  &c. :  substantial  consideration  for  them  and  no 
humbugging  nonsense  is  the  real  thing.  We,  Ernest  and  I, 
are  moving  about  from  house  to  house  at  our  Confirmations 
and  have  been  at  some  very  pleasant  ones.  This  is  delight- 
ful— a  new  nice  house  amidst  the  fir  trees  of  St.  George's 
Hill,  with  very  distant  views  every  way  and  very  nice  people  : 
Captain  Egerton,  one  of  the  Derbyshire  members,  son  of  the 
first  Lord  Ellesmere  ;  Lady  Louisa,  the  Duke  of  Devonshire's 
daughter  ;  and  we  have  down  with  us  Lord  Frederick  Caven- 
dish and  Lady  Frederick  (Lucy  Lyttelton) ;  and  we  have 
had  Lady  Enfield.  There  is  something  mightily  pleasant  in 
real  high  breeding :  it  is  so  considerate  and  so  free  from 
fussy  excitement.  We  had  also  a  very  pleasant  visit  at 
Captain  Ramsden's,  at  Busbridge.  Sir  John  Ramsden  and 
Lady  Gwendoline  were  there  and  all  very  pleasant  indeed. 
I  am,  ever  yours  affectionately,  g  WlXTON 


1 8;  I.  SANDRINGHAM.  377 

The  next  letter  Is  to  his  daughter-in-law,  Mrs.  R. 
G.  Wilberforce  : — 

Rotherfield  Park,  Alton,  Easter  Monday. 

My  dearest  A ,  I  had  quite  counted  on  getting  to 

you  Thursday.  But  here  is  Sir  W.  Knollys'  letter  quite  up- 
setting my  scheme.  So  I  must  hope  for  another  time.  I 
was  so  glad  to  hear  that  dearest  Reg. — thank  him  for  his  dear 
letter — Avas  looking  revived.    You  said  nothing  as  to  my  dear 

little  A ,  about  whom  also  I  want  to  hear.   Tell  me  about 

her  when  you  write  next.  I  was  very  bad,  I  feel,  not  to  have 
written  to  you  on  the  Beloved  Ba  Ba's  ^  Birthday :  I  cannot 
think  how  I  omitted  to  do  so.  I  am  off  this  morning  for 
Laverstoke,  Mitcheldever.  Write  Tuesday  to  Winchester 
House  and  Wednesday.  Thursday  up  to  Saturday,  Sandring- 
ham.  I  shall  so  want  daily  letters  to  enable  me  to  keep  up  in 
my  Easter  Holidays  separated  from  you  all.  I  have  not  been 
quite  well  lately,  cold  and  pains  all  about,  but  ever  your  most 
loving  father,  g^  WiNTON. 

Dear  love  to  Whiteheads,^  Reg-  and  Ernest. 

April  15. — Sandringham.  The  day  for  the  most  part  wet. 
I  walked  to  Sir  W.  Knollys'  to  call,  and  Mr.  Onslow's.  Wrote 
and  read  a  good  deal.  Duchess  of  Cambridge  came.  Dr. 
Quain,  Mr.  Courtenay,  and  Lady  G.  Somerset.  First  swallow. 
Saw  the  Princes  again.  Both  interesting  children.  The 
eldest,  Edward,  that  inward  look  of  melancholy  which  the 
Prince  had.     George  full  of  fun,  spirit,  and  life. 

April  16. — Up  fairly  early.  Prepared  sermon  on  '  They  knew 
not  the  Scripture  that  He  must  rise  from  the  dead.'  Preached 
it  with  interest  to  a  very  attentive  congregation  in  the  pretty 
little  church.  At  luncheon  all  together  and  boys,  and  after- 
wards little  Princesses.  Prince  John  very  pleasant.  Walked 
over  gardens,  houses,  and  farmyard.     A  good  deal  of  talk. 

April  17. — To  London,  and  find  Reg.,  A.,  boys,  and  be- 
loved Ernest  arrived.  Went  and  saw  them.  I  wrote  and 
talked  with  A.  Henry  came  and  v/rote  with  mc.  Low 
about  himself.  The  speculative  feeling  I  have  so  often  known, 
what  if  no  eternal  life  } 

'  The  Bishop's  grandson.  *  Grandchildren. 


378  LIFE  OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.       chap.  xiv. 

To  his  daughter-in-law  the  Bishop  again  writes  : — 

Sherfield  Rectory,  Basingstoke,  April  23,  1871. 

We  had  a  very  successful  day  at  Winchester  yesterday. 
Ernest  did  his  work  capitally.  A  great  many  of  the  leading 
laity  attended  and  we  did  a  good  day's  work.  ...  It  is  cold 
here.  I  walked  all  along  the  wood  coverts  to  hear  the 
nightingales  but  I  think  it  was  too  cold  for  them  to  sing.  I 
am  afraid  the  dear  Whiteheads  will  not  lose  their  colds 
till  it  gets  warmer.  I  long  for  a  letter  about  you  all.  I  did 
hear  the  cuckoo  to-day,  which  was  a  little  spring-like  ;  but  he 
did  not  seem  to  venture  to  sing  out.  My  dear  love  to  Reg. 
and  Ba  and  Willie.  I  always  like  to  indulge  in  a  home  letter 
on  Sunday ;  it  seems  so  in  tune  with  God's  great  gifts  to  us 
on  it. 

April 2(). — Early  Prayers.  Wrote.  Breakfast  at  Sir  W. 
S.  Maxwell's — Philo-Biblon.  Then  to  British  Museum  ;  home 
with  Lord  Eversley.  Afternoon  wet,  and  I  wrote  on  through 
it  till  I  went  to  the  Academy.  There  many  friends,  and  en- 
joyed pictures.  Back  after  the  dinner  in  good  time.  At  3  A.M. 
seized  with  palpitations  or  rather  spasms  of  heart.  In  time 
called  Savage,  and  after  an  hour  Ernest ;  at  5,  so  far  better 
that  went  to  bed.  Slept  on,  but  woke  Sunday  still  palpitating. 
Beloved  Ernest  how  loving. 

April  ■^o. —  Up  at  8.30.  Sent  to  Peterboro,  London,  and 
then  Gloucester  for  aid.  He  [Gloucester]  kindly  took  sermon 
at  St.  Mary  Magdalene,  Southwark,  and  Confirmation  after. 
Dr.  Gull  came  and  gave  a  thorough  examination.  No  organic 
[disease].     Brain  overworked. 

3Iay  I. — Better,  D.  G.  With  A.  to  opening  of  Inter- 
national, and  took  Miss  L.  Phillimore.  All  sorts  there.  Walked 
in  the  procession.  Then  with  Ernest  to  Prince's  Risborough, 
where  Lloyd.  Splendid  sunset  over  dear  old  Cuddesdon. 
Strange  feeling  of  separation  from  the  old  diocese. 

May  3. — Early  off  with  Ernest  at  twenty  to  eight  to 
Dorking.  Breakfast.  Garden  charming,  with  sand  martins 
in  numbers  close  to  window.  Confirmation  nice.  Back  and 
wrote.  To  Lord  Beauchamp's  to  dinner.  Tankervilles, 
Duchess  of  Cleveland,  Derbys,  Ridleys.     Home  late. 


i87i.  WINCHESTER  HOUSE.  379 

May  29. — Hurstbourne.  Early,  Read  service.  Wrote. 
To  Long  Parish  for  Confirmation.  A  charming  Confirmation, 
Day  beautiful,  church  beautiful,  congregation  most  earnest, 
candidates  devout,  clergy  reverend.  Stayed  luncheon  with 
dear  old  Greene,  Back  and  rode  (after  hour's  writing)  with 
Lord  Portsmouth  and  Ernest  to  Tufton  and  Barton  Stacey. 

Jmie  1 1. — Early.  My  great  Fast  Feast.  No  one  to  sympa- 
thise with  me — till  I  shivered.  None  of  these  care  ;  only  I 
whispered  it  the  last  thing  to  A,  and  she  seemed  to  sympa- 
thise, I  went  morning  to  St,  Matthew's,  Brixton,  Preached 
to  very  large  congregation  for  S,  C,  A.,  and  collected  at  the 

doors  53/,     Luncheon  with  good and  large  Confirmation. 

Called  at  Lambeth,  Archbishop  not  worse  for  his  speech  on 
Friday,  He  cordial.  Chapel  Royal.  Wrote  at  Athenaeum. 
Good  accounts  from  Bas.,  D,  G. 

It  was  a  pleasure  to  the  Bishop's  hospitable  heart 
that  he  was  able  to  make  Winchester  House  a  hotel  for 
some  of  his  oldest  friends  :  notably,  to  Sir  George 
Prevost,  Sir  Charles  Anderson,  as  well  as  many  others 
from  the  old  and  new  dioceses.  He  writes  to  Sir  Charles 
Anderson  :  '  I  think  that  instead  of  getting  colder  in 
affection  as  I  grow  older  I  get  to  cling  more  closely 
than  ever  to  real  old  friends.'  The  next  diary  entry  is 
characteristic  of  the  great  unwillingness  and  regret 
with  which  the  Bishop  parted  from  any  friends,  an 
unwillingness  which  many  of  his  guests  may  still 
remember,  but  which  was  naturally  intensified  in  the 
case  of  these  old  and  dear  friends. 

June  17. — Letters  with  Woodford,  who  with  Prevost  went, 
I   felt  in   my  old  heart  solitary — get   ashamed   of  this  with 

dear  Reg,  and  A 's  kindness,  but  she  looks  so  fragile  I  could 

weep.  Then  to  Sons  of  Clergy,  Home  and  wrote,  Reg,  help- 
ing. Then  with  A —  for  Botanic  to  meet  Prince  of  Wales, 
and  pouring  rain  sent  us  home.  Wrote  a  good  deal.  Pre- 
pared sermon.     Rode  once  round  Park. 

June  22. — Dearest  Ernest  came  early.  He  off  at  8.15, 
I  gazed  after  the  vanishing  cab.     Shall  I  ever  see  him  again  } 


380  LIFE   OF  BISHOP    IVILBERFORCE.       chap.  xiv. 

God  knows !  Heavy  day.  Letters.  Breakfast.  Gladstone, 
who  unusually  bright  ;  Italy,  &c.,  &c.  Ecclesiastical  Com- 
mission. Meeting  at  Willis's  Rooms  for  St.  Albans.  C.  Lloyd 
came.     Drove  to  Gipsy  Hill.     Gave  prizes. 

July  II. — Wrote  a  good  deal  and  saw.  At  4  went  to 
Mrs.  Gladstone's  tea  to  meet  Princess  Royal  and  Crown 
Prince.  Very  cordial  and  a  good  deal  of  talk.  He  quite 
affectionate  at  our  parting — '  My  dear  Bishop  ; '  remembering 
my  sermon  before  his  marriage.  Rain  hindered  riding.  To 
House.  Dined  Lord  Sydney's  to  meet  again  Crown  Prince 
and  Princess.     Gladstones,  Spencers,  Bessboroughs,  &c. 

Jidy  28. — (Blackdown.)  W^et  morning,  but  breaking  into 
fair.  The  morning  views  from  my  window  wonderful.  The 
cloud  fringes  lowering  down  with  such  wonderful  shades  of 
light.  Suggested  sermon  on  the  Hills  about  Jerusalem. 
Preached  with   interest.     Then    a    luncheon    and  toasts,  all 

hearty.     Mr. told  me,  the  stranger  speaking  to  one  near, 

of  Tennyson,  '  Mr.  Tennyson  lives  here  does  not  he  .'' '  '  Yes 
he  does.'  '  He  is  a  great  man  ! '  '  Well  I  don't  well  know 
what  you  call  great,  but  he  only  keeps  one  man  servant,  and 
he  doesn't  sleep  in  the  house  ! ' 

August  5. — Early.  Wrote  a  good  deal  and  at  12  in  car- 
riage with  Wodehouse  and  daughter  for  Farnham.  Luncheon 
with  Patriarch,  who  seemed  better  and  spoke  plainer :  with 
me  to  door  and  '  God  bless  you.'  Drove  to  Telford  and  saw 
Church  Schools  and  parsonage.  Then  Elstead.  Then  Peper 
Harrow.  Rode  w^ith  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Ramsden  by  Mousehill 
and  Milford  (at  church,  but  could  not  get  in)  to  Busbridge. 

August  6. —  Early.  Prepared  sermon  morning  on  unjust 
steward.  Evening,  Elijah  in  weakness.  Wrote  a  good  deal. 
I  hope  earnest  prayer  at  Communion  for  all  mine  and  my 
work.  Much  touched  by  that  '  God  bless  you  '  yesterday  of 
the  dear  old  man. 

August  18. —Southampton.  Wrote  and  prepared  sermon 
for  St.  Mary's,  Southampton.  Much  moved  and  prayed  hard 
for  first  sermon  there  in  Bas.'  ministry.  Preached  on  '  He  that 
teacheth.'     Sunday  School  Conference. 

August  ig, — Wrote  early.  By  11.15  boat  to  Cowes  and 
by   rail  to  Newport  and   on  to   Parkhurst  with  Bas.  and  C. 


i87i.  VISIT  TO  SCOTLAND.  ^8 1 

Consecrated  colours.  Much  and  \Q.rY  pleasant  talk  with 
Crown  Prince  and  Princess  and  Prince  Arthur.  Luncheon  at 
Parkhurst,  and  to  Newport.  Service  in  church,  and  then  to 
Cowes  and  Southampton.  Basil  had  clerical  party  to  meet 
me.     All  went  off  pleasantly. 

August  20. — Southampton.  Early  Communion.  Pre- 
pared my  sermon  on  Naaman.  A  good  deal  depressed. 
Preached,  however,  with  interest.  Wrote.  Walked  with  Bas. 
and  C.  to  countless  schools  for  two  hours.  Saw  poor  dying 
man.  Intensely  tired.  God  only  knows  the  temptation  with 
pain  in  back,  &c.,  to  lie  still.  Preached  evening  on  Jehu. 
Large  congregation.  I  trust  impressed.  Churchwardens  to 
supper. 

On  August  30  the  Bishop  started  for  a  much- 
needed  holiday  in  Scotland,  with  the  Bishop  of 
Rochester  (Dr.  Claughton)  and  Miss  Claughton. 

Together  they  stayed  at  Inverary,  Invergarry, 
Gordon  Castle,  and  Lord  Dudley's  at  Blackmount, 
and  Sir  W.  Stirlinof  Maxwell's  at  Keir.  Together 
they  fished  for  salmon,  with  but  slight  success  on  the 
Bishop's  part.  *  Views  beautiful.'  '  Air  reviving.'  'All 
most  kind  and  cordial.'  After  a  short  stay  at  Alnwick 
Castle  and  at  Raby,  the  Bishop  was  again  in  London 
on  September  20.  '  Very  sorry  to  leave  Rochester 
and  K — ^.  Woodford  joined,  and  we  went  together 
to  Lord  Eversley's  ;  all  very  kind.' 

The  Bishop  of  Winchester  to  Mrs.  R.  G.  Wilberforce. 

Inverary,  September  i,  1871. 

Darling  A -,  I  v/rite  one  line  to  say  that  I  got  here 

last  evening  just  too  late  for  dinner  but  joined  them  by  fish 
time — was  most  kindly  received.  The  party  the  family : 
Lord  Lome  and  the  Princess  (who  was  very  agreeable)  and 
Lord  and  Lady  Percy  and  Campbell  of  Islay  and  an  old 
German  tutor  of  Lord  Lome,  come  to  rejoice  with  him  in 
his  happiness.  Yesterday  was  delightful  :  Reg.  of  course 
^  The  Bishop  of  Rochester's  daughter. 


382  LIFE  OF  BISHOP   WILBERFORCE.       chap.  xiv. 

knows  the  Kyles  of  Bute  and  Loch  Fyne — and  the  beauty 
of  the  Isle  of  Arran.  Then  I  came  by  coach  across  to  Loch 
Awe  ;  came  up  it  25  miles  by  steamer,  gradually  getting  into 
the  grand  fellowship  of  Ben  Cruachan  and  the  Glenorchy 
Hills,  the  highest  cloud-veiled  and  of  every  colour  from  violet 
through  purple  up  to  black.  Then  I  got  another  coach  and 
came  down  here.  At  8  this  morning  the  rain  began  :  but  as 
my  aneroid  is  slightly  rising  I  am  not  hopeless.  I  hope  the 
rain  has  kept  off  with  you  and  that  the  farmers  have  carried 
their  corn  :  and  Reg.  and  Pen.  *  had  some  good  shooting  this 
morning. 

This  castle  is  beautifully  situated  on  the  shore  of  the  Fyne 
Loch.  Grand  woods  behind  and  the  high  hills  all  round, 
some  red  with  heather,  some  dark  cliff-like  rocks  and  beau- 
tifully wooded.  All  as  kind  to  me  as  if  I  was  one  of  them, 
so  the  going  away  seems  jumping  again  into  cold  water. 
Now  good  bye,  dear  one,  for  the  present.     Don't  let  my  little 

men  forget  me.     Your  ever  loving  ^^  ,,, 

'^  ^  S.  W. 

Invergarry,  September  3. —  I  take  pen  to  finish  this  letter. 

I  left  Inverary  Friday  afternoon  very  reluctantly,  got  to 
Oban  and  slept  there  at  the  inn  in  order  to  be  ready  to  start 
at  ^  to  8  on  the  steamer  to  bring  me  up  hither.  On  the 
steamer  I  met  Nicholas  Ridley  and  his  family,  one  of  my 
clergy  and  brother  of  W.  H.  Ridley  of  Hambledon  in  the  old 
Diocese.  This  was  very  pleasant.  I  went  up  the  Glencoe 
valley  and  got  on  here  by  7.15.  I  find  a  warm  welcome  and 
a  full  house.  The  Stirling  Maxwells,  Mrs.  Norton,  Charles 
Balfour,  all  of  whom  I  know  well,  and  many  more.  We  had 
a  good  day  yesterday.  This  morning  has  been  wet :  but  it 
is  clearing  now,  12.  I  have  been  reading  the  service  in  my 
own  room  and  a  sermon  of  T.  T.  Carter  and  thinking  of  you 
all  and  praying  for  you.  There  are  no  services  here  to-day, 
so  I  am  going  to  give  one  in  their  kirk  of  my  own  to  this 
party  this  afternoon.  The  post  has  come  and  brought  a 
large  Lavington  cover,  which  I  tore  eagerly  open  :  but  not 
one  word  of  any  of  you — Reg.'s  neuralgia,  your  dear  little  self 
or  the  blessed  boys.     On  Tuesday  I  hope  to  meet  Bishop  of 

^  Sir  Peniston  Milbanke. 


1871.  THE  GLENGARRY  SCANDAL.  383 

Rochester  and  K —  at  the  Duke  of  Richmond's.     Dear  love 
to  my  Reg.  and  the  boys.     Your  ever  loving 

S.  WiNTON. 

The  service  in  the  little  Glengarry  church  which 
the  Bishop  gave  at  Mr.  Ellice's  request  was  thus 
reported  by  the  '  Scotsman  : '  *  The  Bishop  of  Win- 
chester officiated  at  Glengarry,  strictly  following 
throughout  the  service  the  Presbyterian  order  of  the 
worship  of  the  Church  of  Scotland.'  On  the  following 
Sunday,  September  10,  the  Archbishop  of  York,  who 
was  at  the  time  Mr.  Ellice's  guest,  performed  a  service  in 
the  same  church,  in  ordinary  walking-dress,  and  used 
a  mixture  of  the  Scotch  and  English  Services.  A 
rumour  was  thus  spread  that  these  two  Prelates  had 
performed  service  conforming  to  the  Presbyterian 
service.  The  Bishop's  conduct  was  approved  of  by 
the  Episcopalian  Synod  of  Moray  and  he  received  the 
full  approval  of  the  Primus  of  Scotland.  The  letters 
which  follow  tell  the  story  In  the  Bishop's  own 
words  : — 

The  Bishop  of  Winchester  to  Dean . 

Keir,  Dunblane,  September  16,  1871. 
My  dear  Dean,^ — I  have  to-day  your  letter  of  Septem- 
ber 13.  It  contains  no  inclosure,  but  I  can  easily  guess  that 
your  question  refers  to  the  service  I  gave  in  the  Kirk  at 
Invergarry.  It  is  a  simple  story.  There  was  no  Church  of 
our  communion  within  reach :  a  large  gathering  of  English 
guests :  and  I  was  asked  to  give  them  a  service.  The  Kirk, 
built  by  Mr.  Ellice,  was  without  service  that  day,  the 
minister  being  at  Glenquoich,  and  so  he  farther  asked  me 
if  I  would  give  it  in  the  Kirk,  where  the  English-speaking 
population  might  profit.  I  had  no  hesitation  in  going,  as 
St.  Paul  went  to  the  Jewish  Prayer  House  where  Lydia  heard 

*  I  cannot  ascertain  from  the  copy-ljook  to  whom  this  letter  was  written,  but 
probably  it  was  written  to  Dean  Ramsay. 


384  ^IFE  OF  BISHOP   WILBERFORCE.       chap.  xiv. 

him  :  and,  accepting  the  loan  for  a  service,  beginning  with 
prayers  read  out  of  our  Prayer  Book,  hymns,  two  lessons,  a 
sermon  and  a  concluding  prayer,  I  consider  myself  in  no 
way  mixed  up  with  the  Presbyterian  service  but  to  borrow 
the  building  for  a  service  of  my  own.  I  mentioned  it  fully 
to  the  Primius  and  had  his  full  approbation  of  it.  In  the 
evening  I  read  our  Evening  Service  in  Mr.  Ellice's  house.  I 
am  ever  yours  most  truly,  g^  WiNTON. 

The  Bishop  of  Winchester  to  the  Dean  of  Chichester. 

September  30,  1S71. 

My  dear  old  Hook, — I  have  just  found  on  arriving  here 
your  letter  and  P.S,,  and  I  must  thank  you  for  them.  They 
are  your  own  hearty,  trusting,  generous  self.     God  bless  you. 

But  I  vntst  ask  you  to  sJioiv  me  where  I  am  wrong.  I 
am  quite  ready  to  say  that  I  am  sorry  to  have  done  anything 
to  pain  one  true-hearted  friend  like  you  and  would  never 
have  done  what  I  did  had  I  foreseen  it.  But  \  cannot  sz.y 
that  I  think  in  what  /  did  there  was  any  ground  for  the 
offence.  I  think  there  was  abundant  ground  in  what  W. 
Ebor  did.  He  identified  himself  with  the  unapostolic  in- 
trusive Presbyterian  ministry.  I  did  nothing  of  the  sort. 
As  to  using  the  Kirk,  I  no  more  encouraged  Presbyterianism 
in  that  than  if  I  had  preached  the  Gospel  in  a  cow-house  I 
should  have  encouraged  vaccination.  But  you  say  I  ought 
to  have  said  our  whole  Office.  Why }  I  did  say  it  privately 
in  my  own  room.  I  did  not  consider  the  Morning  Service 
one  fit  for  it.  If  you  went  into  a  heathen  land  to  preach  the 
Gospel  to  half-taught  Christians  would  you  feel  bound  to 
read  the  whole  Ofiice  first }  I  do  not  feel  bound  in  England 
if  I  take  a  Mission  Service  in  a  school  to  do  so.  On  the 
contrary,  I  have  too  much  veneration  for  our  Service  to  have 
done  so.  I  showed  my  colours  :  began  with  our  Confession, 
got  no  response,  saw  it  was  maltreating  our  Service;  so  I  read 
openly  out  of  the  Prayer  Book,  to  show  that  I  was  so  reading 
it,  the  prayers  I  could,  collects,  &c.  Now,  do  explain  to  me 
why  you  object  to  this.  TJie  thing  I  thought  it  my  duty  to 
avoid  was  to  give  any  sanction  to  the  Presbyterian  asserted 


i87i.  APPROVAL   OF  SYNOD   OF  MORAY.  385 

ministerial  Commission,  and  this  I  did.  But  except  as  a 
public  service  of  our  Church  I  have  never  felt  any  obligation 
to  perform  her  Service.  The  truth  is  that  if  I  was  in  fault  it 
was  rather  in  thinking  myself  in  Heathendom  in  a  Kirk  than 
anything  else.  I  could  not  have  read  out  our  Communion 
Office  in  it.  Now,  do  you  really  think  that  the  Apostolic 
Office  has  lost  the  power  of  free  Mission-teaching  and  praying 
under  such  circumstances  ? 

I  hope  you  have  seen  the  resolution  of  the  Synod  of 
Moray  :  it  was  in  yesterday's  '  Daily  Telegraph  ' — when  the 
Synod  after  discussion  voted  a  resolution  of  satisfaction  with 
the  explanations  rendered  by  me — but  required  them  of  W. 
Ebor,     I  am  ever  your  very  heartily  affectionate, 

S.  WiNTON. 

The  Vicarage,  Leeds,  October  7,  1871. 

My  dear  Provost,^ — Thank  you  for  your  kind  letter.  I 
wish  that  Mr.  West  had  been  distinctly  answered  that  Mr. 
Cameron  did  not  lend  the  Kirk  and  so  could  not  have  lent  it 
for  a  Presbyterian  service  ;  he  was  not  at  Glengarry  when  I 
was  there.  It  was  from  Mr.  Ellice  for  my  service  that  I  had 
the  loan  of  the  Kirk.  Neither  did  I  ask  for  a  paper  showing 
how  the  Presbyterian  service  was  conducted  :  though  such  a 
paper  was  given  me  and  I  used  it  so  far  as  to  try  to  make 
what  I  conceived  my  Mission  service  as  far  as  possible  intelli- 
gent to  the  congregation, 

I  cannot  but  think  that  the  harm  done  has  resulted  from 
two  things — 

(i)  The  Archbishop  distinctly  acknowledging,  in  act  and 
conformed  worship,  the  Presbyterian  ministry ; 

(2)  The  taking  up  of  my  service  by  our  own  Scotch 
brethren  as  Presbyterian,  and  so 

(3)  allowing  the  Presbyterians  to  claim  it. 

I  do  not  consider  Presbyterianism  to  consist  in  extempore 
prayer,  a  particular  collection  of  Psalms,  still  less  in  a  certain 
building;  but  in  the  substitution  of  a  human  invention  for 
Apostolic  orders.  And  I  think  the  irritation  of  my  Scotch 
brethren  (unlike  you  and  the  Primus)  against  a  Bishop  who  has 

*  The  same  remark  applies  to  this  letter  as  to  the  one  on  page  383. — Ed. 

VOL.  in.  c  c 


386  LIFE  OF  BISHOP   WILBERFORCE.       chap.  xiv. 

shown  for  years  his  brotherhood  with  you,  in  attacking  him  for 
extempore  prayer,  has  done  too  much  to  mystify  the  religious 
mind,  as  if  those  trifles,  and  not  tJic  commission  of  Christ, 
were  the  all  important  things.     I  am  ever  most  truly  yours, 

S.  WiNTON. 

The  Bishop  of  Winchester  to  the  Rev. 
George  Mackness,  D.D? 

Raby  Castle,  September  l8,  1S71. 

My  dear  Sir, — In  reply  to  your  letter,  I  beg  to  explain  to 
you  that  the  service  referred  to  was  a  Mission  sennce,  there 
being  no  English  service  in  the  village  that  day  and  many 
strangers  and  others.  It  had,  of  course,  nothing  to  do  with 
the  orders,  &c.,  of  the  Presbyterian  body.  The  Kirk,  as  a 
building,  was  offered  for  an  English  Bishop's  service  in  it  and 
accepted  readily  by  me.  I  believe  that  I  did  what  St.  Paul 
did  at  the  place  where  prayer  was  wont  to  be  made,  nor  can  I 
conceive  that  such  a  Mission  service  has  any  tendency  to 
increase  the  difficulties  of  our  beloved  sister  the  Church  of 
Scotland. 

What  I  did  met  with  the  full  approval  of  the  Primus.  I 
am  ever  sincerely  yours,  g_  WintOxN^. 

October  25. — Up  between  6  and  7.  Breakfast  :^  to  8  and 
off  for  London.  Interview  with  W.  E.  G.  most  friendly. 
Full  talk  as  to  Athanasian  Creed.  Cabinet  not  willing  to 
stir  needless  difficulties,  D.  G.  Consulted  about  Bishop  of 
Ely's  suffragan,  and  we  practically  agreed.  Noble  as  ever. 
Surrey  Church  Association  and  all  pleasant.  Hawaian 
mission  and  all  agreed.  University  assurance.  Down  to 
Winchester ;  so  intensely  tired  that  slept  all  the  way  to 
Mitcheldever.  Dined  Warden's.  Sir  Bartle  Frere  very 
pleasant :  told  me  *  The  crows  often  get  thoroughly  tipsy 
drinking  the  fermented  palm-juice.  Few  more  curious  sights 
than  to  see  a  tipsy  crow  hunting  for  the  bone  he  has  hidden, 
and  not  able  to  find  it  for  his  drink. — The  wonderful  memory 

'  Incumbent  of   St.    Mary's   Episcopal   Church,    Broughty  Ferry,    diocese 
Brechin. 


18; I.  LETTER   OF  CONDOLENCE.  387 

of  some  of  the  East  Indians :  man  who  could  repeat  lines  in 
all  languages  unknown  to  him  if  once  repeated.' 

November  30. — Up  in  good  time.  Wrote.  Consecration 
day.     How  long.     How  good  my  God.     Benedicite. 

The  next  is  a  letter  of  condolence  written  to  a  great 
friend  of  the  Bishop,  on  the  occasion  of  the  death  of 
her  twin-brother. 


The  Bishop  of  Winchester  to  Mrs.  . 

May  8,  1871. 

My  dear ,  I  cannot  help  telling  you  hozv  I  feel  for 

you.  I  know  it  all  so  well.  The  intense  interest  of  the 
nursing  turning  into  an  intenser  anguish  ;  till  you  could  pray 
for  his  release  from  that  struggling  for  life.  And  then  the 
end  with  its  first  calm  and  then  the  unbroken  stillness  and 
the  sadness  of  having  nothing  more  to  do  for  the  beloved 
one,  and  the  realised  sense  of  parting  and  suspended 
intercourse  until  He  comes  to  call  us  too.  I  know  it  all  and 
I  know  how  special  was  the  link  which  bound  you  to  him : 
that  mystery  of  twin-hood,  which  seems  to  reach  into  the 
spirit  world,  and  my  heart  bleeds  for  you. 

May  He  comfort  you  who  spoke  those  words  of  comfort 
which  last  on  even  till  to-day,  '  Thy  brother  shall  rise  again  ;' 
not  Lazarus  shall  rise,  but  thy  brother  shall  rise — rise  as  thy 
brother,  renew  the  old  relation,  be  in  the  brighter  world  thy 
brother — be  there  where  parting  is  not,  whence  we  shall  look 
back  on  the  storm  as  the  saved  from  shipwreck  looks  back 
upon  the  floods  with  which  he  so  lately  buffeted. 

Yes,  dear ;  here  is  comfort  for  you  :  thej-e  even  this 

sorrow  shall  have  turned  into  joy  as  you  look  back  on  it 
together.  ...  I  am  ever  affectionately  yours, 

S.   WiNTON. 


The  next   extracts    from    the   diary   refer   to    the 
illness  of  the  Prince  of  Wales  : — 

December  9. — Calbournc.     Connor  brought  out  bad  news 
of  the    Prince ;    quite  upset  mc  all  day ;     in  my   thoughts. 

cc 


388  LIFE  OF  BISHOP   WILBERFORCE.       chap.  xiv. 

preaching  and  celebrating.  Greatly  aggravated  irritation  of 
chest  and  voice  and  quite  bad  at  night. 

December  10. — Lay  in  bed.  Read  service  and  three  of 
Robertson's  sermons.  Rather  better  account  by  telegram  of 
Prince.     Sir  W.  Knollys  to  me,  '  We  have  hope  still.' 

December  14. — First  better  news  of  Prince,     Thank  God. 

December  30. — Lavington,  Woke  early  with  oppressive 
cold,  caught,  I  believe,  from  darling  children.  Wrote  very 
hard.  Interviews  with  MacColl  and  Trotter.  The  day  hope- 
lessly wet.     Billiards  with   Ernest  and  A for  exercise. 

Read  a  little.  Cold  heavy  and  stifling,  and  fearing  for 
Monday's  and  Tuesday's  work.     Miserere  ! 

The  Rev.  A.  P.  Cust  ^  writes  : — 

Those  of  us  who  saw  him  '  at  home '  will  ever  maintain  an 
Ideal  to  be  cherished,  emulated  and  extolled.  Never  did 
father  watch  more  tenderly  and  anxiously  over  the  welfare  of 
his  children  and  endeavour  as  far  as  possible  to  supply  to 
them  that  blessing  so  early  taken  from  them — a  mother's 
love.  How  few  who  noticed  his  laborious  life  knew  of  the 
hours  spent  at  night  in  earnest  prayer  on  their  behalf  to 
God. 

December  31, — My  cold  so  threatening  that  I  lay  in  bed 
till  near  12,  Better  then:  read  the  Service  as  they  were 
saying  it  in  church  close  by.  And  so  the  year  runs  out  again. 
How  many  its  mercies  ;  in  some  respects,  signal.  My  Reg. 
flourishing.  His  dear  wife  and  three  children.  My  beloved 
Ernest  given  me  back  again  from  America  certainly  in  better 
health,  though  still  pale,  worn,  and  heart-broken.  God  bless 
him.  My  own  Basil  well  placed  at  Southampton,  and  doing, 
I  trust,  a  real  work  for  God  there.  His  wife  helping  him. 
His  child  stronger.     Bless  the  Lord,  O  my  soul.     My  dear 

E ,  though  alas  !  so  parted  from  us,  afiectionate.  My  work 

something  in  my  Diocese,  and  though  my  end  seems  often 
very  near,  yet  my  strength  greatly  held  up  for  work.  O  that 
my  last  days  may  be  my  best  days. 

In  iS/Othe  Royal  Commission  on  Ritual  issued  its 

*  The  present  Dean  of  York. 


i8;i.  THE  ATHANA:sIAN  CREED.  389 

fourth  and  final  Report.  Among  the  subjects  which 
were  alluded  to  in  that  Report  was  the  Athanasian 
Creed.  This  mention  of  the  Creed  created  such  an 
alarm  amongst  Churchmen  that,  in  February  1871,  a 
petition  signed  by  1,150  clergy  and  laity  was  presented 
to  the  Archbishop,  deprecating  any  change  whatever 
being  made  either  in  the  Creed  itself  or  in  the  use 
of  it.  This  petition  was  met  by  counter-petitions  to 
Convocation  and  to  the  Archbishop,  praying  for 
alterations  of  some  kind  to  be  made. 

During  the  Session  of  1871,  Mr.  T.  Chambers^ 
gave  notice  of  a  motion  by  which  it  was  proposed 
to  remit  any  penalties  which  might  be  incurred  by 
clergymen  who  substituted  the  Apostles'  Creed  for  the 
Creed  of  St.  Athanasius  whenever  the  latter  was 
ordered  to  be  read.  It  appears  from  letters  that  Mr. 
Gladstone  was  personally  in  favour  of  what  he  cha- 
racterised as  a  wise  and  equitable  motion,  but  he  also 
thought  that  if  the  Church  offered  any  determined  op- 
position to  this  proposal  the  safest  course  would  be  to 
decline  the  discussion  of  a  subject  which  would  inter- 
fere with  the  Calendar. 

In  May  several  of  the  Bishops  met  at  the  Arch- 
bishop of  York's  house  to  discuss  Mr.  Chambers's  pro- 
posal, the  result  of  which  meeting  was,  that  the  Bishop 
was  enabled  to  satisfy  Mr.  Gladstone  that  on  all  sides, 
on  different  grounds,  Mr.  Chambers's  proposal  would 
meet  with  a  most  determined  opposition  from  many 
members  of  the  Episcopate.  From  the  Bishop's  diary 
of  1 87 1  It  Is  apparent  that  on  this  question  of  doing 
something  with  the  Athanasian  Creed,  there  was  a  wide 
divergence  of  opinion  between  the  Archbishop  and 
himself.  October  9,  the  Bishop,  who  was  at  Adding- 
ton,  notes  :  '  To  Addington.  Archbishop  and  Catherine 

'  Sir  Thomas  Chambers,  now  Recorder  of  London. 


390  LIFE  OF  BISHOP   WILBERFORCE.      chap.  xiv. 

very  cordial ;  he  full  of  legislation.  Athanasian  Creed. 
Cathedrals,  &c.  I  tried  to  gentle  him.  Succeeded,  I 
think,  as  to  Cathedrals  and  partially  Athanasian  Creed.' 
Again,  on  the  20th  :  '  To  Addington.  Walked  with 
the  Archbishop  ;  showed  him  Liddon  s  and  Pusey  s 
letters,  and  for  the  time  convinced  him  that  he  must 
not  start  withdrawal  of  Athanasian.  He  said  :  '  But 
it  can  do  no  harm  to  ventilate  it.'  I  replied  :  '  Has 
your  Grace  considered  the  danger  of  unsettling  some 
minds  and  irritating  others  by  the  mere  fact  of  our 
seeming  to  cause  the  discussion.'  Dr.  Pusey  and  Dr. 
Liddon  had  written  many  letters  to  the  Bishop,  pray- 
ing for  his  powerful  intervention  on  this  matter ;  and 
they  had  both  declared  that  were  the  Athanasian  Creed 
touched  they  would  resign  their  preferments.  At  this 
time  they  would  assent  to  nothing  except  that  things 
should  remain  as  they  were.  On  December  5  the 
Bishops  met]  at  Lambeth,  and  the  diary  furnishes  the 
result  of  that  deliberation.  'To  Lambeth  till  7  p.m., 
Bishops'  meeting.  The  Archbishop  declared  against 
a  material  alteration  of  the  Athanasian  Creed  for 
fear  of  a  schism,  and  for  Oxford  note.^  Fruit,  D.  G., 
of  my  visit  to  Addington.'  On  January  6,  1872,  the 
Archbishop  was  the  Bishop's  guest  in  Sussex.  The 
diary  says :  '  Lavington. — After  breakfast  long  talk 
with  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  and  Bishop  of 
Chichester.  The  Archbishop  quite  convinced  that  he 
must  not  tamper  with  the  Athanasian  Creed.'  Matters 
thus  remained  until  February  6,  on  which  day  the 
Bishops,  as  usual  before  the  formal  meeting  of  Con- 
vocation, held  their  private  meeting.  The  diary  for 
that  day  shows  that  the  Archbishop  had  lent  perhaps 
a  willing  ear  to  opposite  counsels  and  when  Bishop 
Wilberforce  brought  forward  his  proposition  for  an  ex- 

•  A  proposed  explanator)'  note. 


1872.  A    COMPLETED    WORK.  39 1 

planatory  note,  the  Archbishop  proposed  an  addition. 
The  entry  in  the  diary  is  :  *  February  6. — Off  by  1 1 
to  Lambeth.  Long  prose.  The  Archbishop  outwitted 
me  to  propose  as  additional  to  my  own,  Jiis  proposition, 
and  so  after  I  had  left  all  failed.  Greatly  annoyed.' 
On  February  8  Convocation  met,  and  the  Archbishop 
announced  that  the  Letter  of  Business  restored  to 
Convocation  the  liberty  of  practical  legislation  for  the 
wants  of  the  Church ;  it  gave  them  power  to  debate, 
consider,  consult  and  agree  upon  points,  matters  and 
things  contained  in  the  fourth  and  final  Report  of  the 
Ritual  Commissioners.  This  was  the  completion  of  the 
work  for  which  Bishop  Wilberforce  had  laboured  for 
well-nigh  twenty  years. 

The  Archbishop  then  invited  a  discussion  upon 
the  Athanasian  Creed.  A  debate  took  place,  in  the 
course  of  which  the  Bishop  of  Gloucester  and  Bristol 
proposed,  '  That  it  is  not  desirable  to  invite  legislation 
on  the  part  of  the  Fourth  Report  of  the  Ritual 
Commissioners  which  relates  to  the  Athanasian  Creed.' 
The  discussion  on  this  resolution  lasted  several  days, 
the  debate  eventually  standing  adjourned  until  May. 
On  May  2  the  Bishop  of  Gloucester's  proposal  and 
the  adjourned  debate  upon  it  were  by  consent  further 
adjourned  until  the  Lower  House,  to  which,  under  the 
Letter  of  Business,  the  question  had  been  referred,  had 
reported.  The  Report  came  up  on  May  3  in  the  form 
of  four  Resolutions,"  carried  by  large  majorities  against 
the  strenuous  and  powerful  opposition  of  the  Dean  of 
Westminster  ;  and  on  that  day,  the  Archbishop  having 
read  the  first,  which  was,  '  That  the  confession  of 
faith  commonly  called  the  Creed  of  St.  Athanasius 
continue   to   be   used    in    its    integrity  in  the   public 

-  It  seems  that  the  third  and  fourth  Resolutions  were  incorporated  in  one. — 


392  LIFE  OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.       chap.  xiv. 

services  of  the  Church,'  Bishop  Wilberforce  moved 
as  an  amendment  to  the  Bishop  of  Gloucester's  resolu- 
tion :  '  That  this  House  assents  to  the  resolution  sent 
to  it  by  the  Lower  House,  as  to  the  retention  and  use 
of  the  Creed  commonly  called  that  of  St.  Athanasius.' 
A  division  was  taken  and  the  numbers  were  equal. 
The  Archbishop  gave  the  casting  vote  against,  and 
thus  by  exercising  his  power  of  two  votes,  the  amend- 
ment was  lost.  The  original  motion  was  also  lost,  and 
so  matters  remained  in  statu  quo. 

On  July  2  Bishop  Wilberforce  moved  the  second 
and  third  resolutions  of  the  Lower  House.  The 
second  was,  *  That  the  present  rubric  remain  un- 
altered ; '  and  the  third,  which  had  been  originated  by 
the  Bishop,  and  moved  in  the  Lower  House  by  Sir 
George  Prevost,  was,  *  That  this  House '  (the  Lower 
House)  '  is  willing  to  consider  any  such  changes  in  the 
English  version  of  this  Confession  of  our  Christian 
Faith  as  will  make  it  a  more  exact  rendering  of  the 
document  which  has  been  used  in  this  Church  for 
centuries  before  the  Reformation.'  Both  of  these 
resolutions  were  agreed  to  and  a  committee  of  both 
Houses  was  appointed  to  carry  into  effect  the  third 
resolution. 

The  Bishop's  diary  of  December  3  shows  that  on 
that  day  he  was  successful  in  carrying  in  committee 
the  proposition  that  an  explanatory  note  should  be 
affixed  to  the  Creed,  and  that  no  alterations  should  be 
made  in  either  the  Creed  itself  or  in  the  Rubric.  In 
1873,  the  Committee  reported  to  Convocation  that 
there  should  be  a  Synodical  Declaration  on  the  sub- 
ject. After  much  discussion  this  was  finally  agreed  to. 
Thus  was  the  Church  of  England,  under  the  guidance 
of  Bishop  Wilberforce,  steered  through  one  of  the 
greatest  dangers  which  have  beset  her  in  modern  times. 


1872.  DR.   PUSEY'S  GRATITUDE.   .  393 

On  this  particular  question  men  of  all  shades  of  opinion 
wrote  to  him  ;  it  was  absolutely  necessary  that  some- 
thing should  be  done.  On  the  one  side  the  loud 
talkers  of  the  Broad  Church  party  influenced  public 
opinion  against  portions  of  the  Creed,  and  especially 
influenced  the  Archbishop ;  whilst,  on  the  other,  a 
serious  defection  in  the  Church  of  England  was  threat- 
ened on  the  side  of  the  High  Churchmen,  were  the 
Creed  to  be  touched.  In  dealino;  with  this  latter  danger 
the  Bishop's  tact  was  eminently  displayed.  This  is 
evidenced  by  Dr.  Pusey,  who  writes  :  '  Thanks  be 
to  God,  and  under  God,  I  bless  Him  for  your  Lord- 
ship's interposition.  Bright  ^  said,  "  Then  the  Church 
of  England  is  saved."  It  is  a  heavy  weight  rolled  off, 
after  which  one  can  breathe  again  freely.' 

Febmary  ir.— Osborne. — Early  and  sketched  sermon. 
Preached  with  interest ;  very  attentive  congregation  ;  '  we  see 
through  a  glass  darkly.'  After  luncheon  Queen  saw  me : 
very  unusually  kind.  Long  talk.  Spoke  warmly  about 
sermon.  Prince  of  Wales,  herself,  Athanasian  Creed,  shortened 
service.  I  spoke  out  on  all,  and  she  never  so  ready  to  listen, 
and  seeming  not  hostile  to  any  view  of  truth ;  danger  of 
stirring  Athanasian,  D.G.  Walked  with  Sir  J.  Cowell,  plea- 
sant. Wrote  a  little  and  down  to  East  Cowes  Church. 
Chichester  Fortescue  to  dinner.  Queen  very  pleasant  and 
easy;  had  set  me  next  to  her.  Interesting  after  to  see  her 
speaking  with  Chichester  Fortescue  with  great  energy  on  the 
American  question. 

To  his  son  Ernest  the  Bishop  writes  from  Osborne, 
February  1 1  : — 

I  specially  want  some  amendments  which  Phillimore  was 
to  look  at,  in  the  Clergy  Discipline  Amendment  Act,  if  this 
has  ....  (here  enter  the  two  little  Princes  to  pay  me  a  visit, 
examine  the  biscuit-tin,  and  ask  for  one  each,  inspect  my 

^  Canon  Bright. 


394  ^^^^   O^  BISHOP   WILBERFORCE.       chap.  xiv. 

hat,  ask  why  it  has  strings  by  the  side,  in  all  the  fulness  of 
young  boy  life).  ...  I  have  got  comfortably  through  my  ser- 
mon :  it  is  far  pleasanter  to  me  preaching  when  the  Queen 
is  one  of  a  congregation  of  my  own  people  than  preaching 
to  her  in  the  sort  of  singleness  of  address  it  is  at  Windsor 
Castle. 

February  21. — To  Leatherhead,  nice  Confirmation,  and 
on  to  London.  Meeting  of  Surrey  Church  Association. 
Down  to  Box  Hill,  where  my  dearest  Ernest,  God  bless  him, 
to  greet  me.  Walked  up  light-hearted  because  he  with  me, 
and  my  Reg.  and  his  well  in  town,  and  Bas.  wrote  happily. 
Bless  the  Lord,  O  my  soul.  Dinner  with  ourselves.  I 
chilled  and  tired. 

February  22. — Thank  God  !  better  and  able  to  work  on. 
To  Dorking  by  10  to  service.  Preached  to  candidates  on 
Moses  ;  tenderness,  hatred  of  sin,  resting  on  communion  with 
God.  Then  candidates  at  Vicarage.  Wrote.  Luncheon. 
To  Wootton  ;  Confirmation  nice  ;  and  on  to  Abinger,  Coldhar- 
bour.  Saw  dear  Lavington.  Woodford  with  me,  interested. 
To  S. P. G.  at  Dorking.  Then  preached  to  candidates.  Then 
to  the  Rates'. 

FebriLary  23. — To  Dorking  by  10.  Addressed  on  '  I  will 
give  thee  rest.'  Then  drove  to  Buckland  ;  nice  Confirmation. 
To  Red  Hill,  train  to  Horley,  a  nice  Confirmation.  Back,  and 
train  to  Red  Hill.  Confirmed,  Parish  Church.  Then  preach 
at  Brass's  and  open  schools,  and  address.  Back  to  the 
Rates'. 

February  27. — Merstham.  Off  by  8. 11  train  with 
Sheffields,  and  found  London  wild  with  Thanksgiving  Day. 
Hasty  breakfast.  Walked  to  House  of  Lords,  and  boat  to 
St.  Paul's.  Then  with  Bagots  ;  Westminsters,  &c.  The 
service  really  fine.  Walked  after  with  Bas.  into  Park,  and 
saw  Queen  return.  Wrote  after  mightily  with  Ernest,  Wood- 
ford and  Prevost. 

It  was  in  the  spring  of  1S72  that  a  gentleman,  once 
well  known  as  a  preacher  and  missionary  of  Rome  in 
England,  became  personally  acquainted  with  the 
Bishop.       The    acquaintance    sprang    from    nothing 


l872.  CONVERSION  OF  A   ROMAN  PRIEST.  395 

further  than  a  latent  confidence  and  a  slight  know- 
ledge on  either  side  of  some  members  of  their  respec- 
tive families  ;  but  it  was  soon  to  ripen  into  intimacy. 
This  priest,  it  appears,  was  just  then  in  a  state  of 
anxious  doubt.  He  had  seceded  some  time  pre- 
viously from  the  Church  of  Rome,  and  yet,  not- 
withstanding an  earnest  desire  to  conform  to  the 
Church  of  England,  he  hesitated  to  take  that  step 
without  effective  aid  to  his  conscience  ;  he  therefore 
opened  his  mind  and  heart  to  the  Bishop.  He  was 
rewarded,  not  only  by  a  most  satisfying  solution  of 
every  doubt,  but  by  a  tender  promise  of  sympathy — 
well  redeemed  in  their  repeated  and  prolonged  con- 
ferences and  in  the  affectionate  intercourse  they 
maintained  to  the  end.  In  receptions  of  this  kind, 
the  Bishop  adopted  no  hard-and-fast  rule  ;  he  always 
considered  the  circumstances  of  each  case.  The  only 
form  of  reception  in  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer  is 
that  by  baptism.  And,  as  in  the  typical  case  here 
detailed,  there  could  be  no  question  of  re-baptism,  he 
simply  required  a  renunciation  on  the  one  hand,  and  an 
ex  animo  adhesion  on  the  other  ;  both  to  be  in  writing. 
Wishing,  however,  to  secure  his  newly-found  friend 
for  active  service  in  the  Church,  he  wrote  and  be- 
queathed to  him  a  strong  letter  of  commendation. 

The  following  brief  extract  from  the  less  personal 
parts  of  that  letter  not  inaptly  exemplifies  the  whole. 
*  I  am  entirely  satisfied,'  the  Bishop  writes  to  his 
friend,  *  by  the  reasons  for  your  change  ;  they  are  such 
as  led  our  fathers  to  break  the  enforced  Roman 
obedience,  and  to  resume  as  a  branch  of  the  Church 
Catholic,  the  primitive  faith  and  practice.'  Those  who 
know  the  Bishop's  life-long  witness  against  the  Papacy 
will  readily  understand  the  joy  of  his  heart  at  finding  it 
thus  given   him  in  his  old  age  to  hold  out  his  own 


396  LIFE  OF  BISHOP   WILBERFORCE.       chap.  xiv. 

beloved  Church  as  the  proper  and  natural  home  to  a 
refugee  from  a  yoke  so  detested. 

April  20. — London.  Up  early.  Got  to  letters  before 
Chapel.  Sir  C.  Anderson  breakfasted.  Then  saw  and  wrote, 
Ernest  helping.  Then  rode  with  Marlborough  girls  till  2. 
The  darlings   [his  grandchildren]  came  from  Drove.     With 

A to   Watercolour   Exhibition.      Wrote  till  dinner  at 

Mofifatt's.  Much  talk  with  Forster,  who  always  interests  me 
deeply:  told  of  having  been  bred  a  Quaker.  The  one  dan- 
ger of  present  day,  not  believing  in  a  Personal  God.  If  that 
sound  all  follows — Atonement,  &c.  That  the  danger  now,  and 
partly  fearing  his  own  soundness  and  seeing  what  the  loss 
would  be  to  nation  made  him  so  strong  on  religious  educa- 
tion. He  said  :  '  The  one  man  I  ever  heard  preach  who  really 
put  that  forward  was  Mansell  :  F.  Maurice  somewhat,  but 
obscure  in  his  statements.' 

April  21. — Up  at  20  to  8.  Felt  beat  and  intensely  de- 
pressed :  though  night  unusually  good.  Great  difficulty  in 
grappling  with  sermon.  At  last  composed  and  wrote  plan. 
But  in  church  from  look  of  congregation  as  needing  rousing, 
after  earnest  prayer  changed  and  preached  quite  unwritten 

on  Balaam.      Confirmed  after  and   at  .      Veiy  tired   at 

night. 

May  4. — Early  and  with  Prevost  at  his  breakfast.  He 
went.  To  Grillion's  breakfast  and  on  to  Confirmation  at 
Richmond.  Home  and  wrote  till  6,  when  to  Academy. 
Nothing  high  above,  but  much  careful  and  good  painting. 
At  the  dinner  much  the  same  of  the  speaking.  Bishop  of  St. 
David's  and  Forster  very  tedious.  Archbishop  of  Canterbury 
dull.     Gladstone  best — but  never  kindling  into  fire. 

On  May  18  the  Bishop  was  at  Wonham  Manor  with 
his  old  friends  the  Ways.  '  Friendly  talk  with  Albert 
of  old  days — my  great  boy  friendship  for  him  so  revives 
in  my  age.' 

The  next  entry  in  the  diary  is  very  characteristic 
of  the  Bishop's  ever-fresh  remembrance  of  his  days  of 
happiness  and  of  his  longing  for  sympathy.     Always 


1872.  WRITING  FOR   THE  '  quarterly:  397 

ready  to  enter  warmly  into  the  joys  and  sorrows  of 
those  about  him,  he  had  a  yearning  for  affection  in 
return  ;  and  his  gratitude  to  any  of  his  family  who 
either  rendered  him  any  service  or  showed  him  any 
affection  was  often  out  of  proportion  to  the  cause. 

June  ir. — My  day!  My  wedding  day;  how  gloomily, 
how  heavy-hearted  it  sets  in  ;  how  unlike  what  it  was ;  how 
needful  a  discipline  for  me.  Not  one  of  them  even  knows  it. 
They  think  me  hurried  with  business.  They  do  not  know 
that  my  heart  is  in  Lavington  Church — in  the  house  when  we 
came  back.  Oh,  but  it  is  almost  madness  to  think  of  it.  Saw, 
wrote.  Went  to  Rotherhithe :  consecrated  St.  Barnabas' 
Church.  Confirmed  at  St.  Stephen's,  Lambeth.  Bas.  very 
kind.  House  of  Lords.  Alabama  claims.  Dined  Merchant 
Taylors ;  went  and  came  back  with  Bishop  of  London, 
Ernest,  Reg.  and  A — — ,  came  to  see  me ;  sitting  up  and 
thinking  of  Highwood,  1828,  June  11. 

July  16. — Early:  after  breakfast  saw  people  till  i.  To 
Lords.  Committee  on  Fire  Assurance  till  4.  Wrote  and 
House  of  Lords  till  6.30.  Rode  Ossington's  chestnut  mare  : 
a  grand  mare  indeed.  Dined  Salisbury's.  Talk  on  Eccle- 
siastical Courts  Bill,  &c.,  &c.  He  charming  :  so  fair,  so  kind, 
so  simple  and  high-minded. 

On  August  17  the  Bishop  was  at  Inverary,  writing 
his  article  for  the  'Quarterly'  on  the  East  African 
Slave  Trade.     The  diary  continues  : — 

Rode  with  Lord  Lome  and  Lord  Archibald  :  both  so 
pleasant ;  Lome  loveable.  Long  discussion  after  dinner  with 
Duke  on  real  presence  not  materialistic.  Nothing  from  home 
to-day.  God  grant  the  dear  ones  are  well.  Nothing  can  be 
prettier  than  the  whole  manner  of  the  Princess  (Louise),  She 
lent  me  her  horse  to  ride  this  afternoon. 

Still  engaged  in  writing  his  review,  sometimes  in 
the  train,  he  stayed  at  Carlisle  with  the  Bishop,  whom 
he  quits  with  '  quite  a  feeling  of  loneliness.' 


398  LIFE  OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.      CHAP.  XIV. 

August  29. — Muncaster  Castle.  Morning  wrote  letters, 
and  review  on  East  African  Slave  Trade  for  '  Quarterly '  and 
finished  first  draft  of  it — where  better  than  in  the  house  where, 
with  first  Lord,  my  beloved  father  so  often  consulted  on  his 
great  drama  ?  Rode  with  Welby  to  seaside  ;  pouring  rain 
soon  after  we  started.  Striking  ride  over  sands.  Oyster- 
catcher.  Gulls.  One  grand  old  curlew.  Small  sandpipers. 
The  wind  :  the  surf :  the  rocks  :  the  dull  level  sands  :  tide 
rising.  Evening  Charles  Lindsay  (son  of  my  father's  friend's 
daughter)  and  wife  came.  A  good  deal  of  talk  with  Welby, 
who  shrewd. 

September  3. — Hawarden.  To  early  church  with  W.  E.  G. 
as  loveable  as  ever :  showed  me  H.  Glynne's  grave.  Talk  of 
Stephen.  After  breakfast  wrote,  C.  Anderson  with  me  till 
luncheon.  Drove  at  4  to  Eaton,  with  Gladstone,  S.  Glynne, 
&c.,  and  went  over  all.  A  vast  outlay,  I  think  for  a  failure. 
Walked  partly  home.  Talk  with  Gladstone  on  Athanasian 
Creed — for  no  violence  :  would  keep  all  possible  :  suspects  it 
as  only  a  preliminary  of  attack  on  Prayer  Book. 

On  September  6,  the  day  before  his  birthday,  the 
diary  records  :  *  A  deep  impression  to-day — sense  of 
my  own  imperfect  service.  A  year  ending-  to-day. 
O  Christ,  hear  me.  The  year  running  out  of  my  life's 
sands.     Is  the  year's  work  done  ? ' 

To  his  son  Ernest  he  writes  on  September  7  : — 

I  have  had  a  very  quiet  birthday  morning  up  in  my  own 
room,  and  time  for  a  good  deal  of  thought  and  prayer :  it  is 
very  serious  getting  so  near  the  end  and  the  great  account. 
May  God  give  me  grace  to  get  ready. 

September  29. — Betchworth  Park.  Up  early.  Prepared 
three  sermons.  Morning  at  Leigh  ;  preached  on  despising  little 
ones.  At  Nutley  Lane,  Reigate,  on  beggar  died  and  carried 
by  angels.  Evening,  Betchworth  Church  on  nature  of  angels 
and  relations  to  us.     Tired  out. 

The  next  letter,  written  from  the  Church  Congress 
at  Leeds,  just  after  the  Bishop  himself  had  spoken  to 
the  working  men's  meeting,  is  extremely  characteristic 


1872.      DESCRIPTION  OF  SPEECHES  AT  LEEDS.  399 

of  the  Bishop,  showing  how  tersely  and  humorously  he 
could  sketch  off  the  different  speakers. 

The  Bishop  of  Winchester  to  the  Rev.  Hugh  Pearson. 

Leeds,  Workmen's  Meeting,  October  10,  1872. 

My  dearest  H.  P., — I  have  been  reading  your  letter,  put 
into  my  hands  as  I  came  here,  as  speakers  are  uttering  their 
speeches  to  the  shrewd  and  hard-headed  men  of  Yorkshire. 
I  was  so  glad  to  hear  from  you.  I  am  glad  you  could  give 
so  good  an  account  of  the  Synod.  I  quite  agree  with  you  en- 
tirely about  Pott,  and  I  shall  never  be  content  till  I  get  him 
on  the  bench.  I  am  very  unhappy  about  dear  Leighton.  I 
am  so  very  much  afraid  it  is  a  breaking-up.  I  am  very  sorry 
that  I  have  not  been  able  to  get  to  see  him  ;  I  hope  to  do  so 
next  week.  My  dearest  Ernest  is,  I  fear,  really  no  better. 
He  has  gone  out  to  the  Cape — sailing  to-day.  May  God  be 
with  him  :  my  heart  aches  so  I  can  hardly  write  about  it. 
Basil  is  doing  really  wonderfully  well  at  Southampton.  I 
steyottr  Bishop  has  to  speak.  So  I  shan't  shut  up  until  I 
can  report.  Lord  Bishop  of  Oxford  called  up.  He  has 
started  well.  There — he  has  described  some  meeting  of 
Oxfordshire  workmen,  who  were  being  lectured — he  says 
they  were  Chinese  to  us  Yorkshiremen — he  is  saying  that  the 
only  thing  they  cared  to  hear  about  was  *  thei7'-  wages.'  He 
thinks  the  working  men  of  Leeds  don't  care  about  their 
wages  !  How  little  he  knows  us  Yorkshiremen.  Still  they 
are  a  little  pleased  at  being  told  that  they  are  above  think- 
ing about  wages  and  just  now  applaud,  but  at  present  he  is 
*  dool.'  He  has  woke  a  little  and  said  that  'the  Church  is 
the  oldest  mutual  help  society  in  the  world  '  (cheers)  ;  wound 
up  well  with  saying  a  good  Church  parish  was  where  there 
were  a  great  many  H.  P.'s  who  are  kind  to  everybody. 

Enter  Birley,  M.P.,  of  Manchester  :  'we  all  want  to  better 
ourselves,  to  sleep  more,  eat  and  drink  more,'  &c.  Birley  is 
making  a  sensible,  dull,  and  Lancashire  speech,  and  the  shrewd 
Yorkshiremen  are  gaping.  There — he  has  done.  Bishop  of 
Manchester— ^rm^  %velcoine — starts  by  saying  they  are  not 
working  men,  that  only  a  few  arc  (cry  of  *  Show  of  hands,'  and 


400  LIFE  OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.       chap.  xiv. 

75  per  cent,  hold  up  their  hands).     Tells  a  good  story  of  his 
squire  in  Berkshire  who  told  him  that  he  should  have  been  a 
tippler  and  a  poacher — says  he,  having  a  comfortable  house,  is 
not  tempted  to  tipple  at  the  '  Black  Dog,'  and  smoke '  church- 
wardens'    (now  he    is  speaking   veiy  well  indeed.)  Why  do 
not  the  poor  hear  US  gladly }  Now  has  just  scalped  poor 
Gloucester  and  Bristol,  but  well  and  tenderly  as  if  he  loved 
him.  Now  he  is  praising  Mr.  Joseph  Arch.    Now  he  has  made 
a  great  blunder  :  says  '  the  order  of  the  angel  was  '*  Go  stand 
in  the  Temple  and  speak  the  words  of  THIS  life,"  we  don't 
want  heaven  and  paradise  I0,000  years  hence,  but  what   is  to 
help  you  TO-DAY.*     The  Greek,  brother  Fraser,  won't  bear  it. 
Now  again  he  is  very  good,  '  Do  you   read  your  Bibles  for 
yourselves.'*      Do   you   pray.-* '      Now  he  is  speaking   very 
mischievously,  appealing  to  the   Wesleyans  about  surplices, 
&c. :  and  contrasting  them  with  winning  living  souls  :  and  so 
he  stops,  applauded  for   the  last  bit  of  mischief,  leaving,  as 
Lord  Nelson  has  said,  the  impression  that  '  the  Kingdom  of 
God  is  not  meat   and  drink '    means  *  there  are    no  sacra- 
ments.'    Now  old  Woodford  speaks  :  he  has  been  rapturously 
received  and  is  speaking  excellently  well.  Of  the  '  Old  Church.' 
'  The  Church  of  England  not  an  aristocratic  Church '  {very  fine; 
in  his  best  mode)   an  analysis  of  the  real  religious  state  of 
the  town,  lightly  but  very  effectively  done.     Why  do  respect- 
able working-men  not  worship  ">.     '  Talk  it  out,  sift  it,  weigh 
it,  twist  it,  and  then  come  and  tell  us  what  we  can  do  to  take 
the  stones  out  of  your  path  and  make  the  way  easier  to  you  ; 
and  do  what  you  can  to  bring  others  with  you.     You  can  do 
what  we  cannot — you  can  pass  thresholds  we  cannot  cross,' 
&c.      He  has  ended  excellently  in  great  applause.     Bishop  of 
Ripon  before  closing  wishes  to  say  a  word.     Universal  interest 
in  the   Congress — shared  by  Nonconformists,  including  our 
chief  civil  magistrate  :  the  mayor,  a  Baptist,  has  shown  all  help 
(applause).     (He  gave  us  turtle  soup  to-day.)     He  watches 
for  the  welfare  of  the  good  old  Church  of  England,  and  he 
may  speak  to-night,  and  so  he  rises.     Stupendous  applause — 
speaks  sensibly  and  well.    The  clock  strikes  ten,  and  we  break 
up  in  search  of  Horizontality. — Ever  your  very  affectionate 

S.  WiNTON. 


1872.    LORD    WESTBURY  ON  THE  PRIVY  COUNCIL.    40 1 

To  his  son  Ernest  he  writes  : — 

October  23,  1872. 

Having  just  despatched  some  thirty-three  diocesan  letters, 
I  begin  a  letter  to  you  which  I  hope  to  finish  to-morrow  and 
despatch  from  Lavington.  I  will  give  you  a  little  diary  of 
my  life  since  that  sad  goodbye.  I  got  to  Leeds  the  Wed- 
nesday night  tired  out  ;  but  having  written  the  greater  part 
of  my  Congress  sermon  in  the  train,  I  found  Prevost, 
Glynne,  the  Bishop  of  Carlisle  waiting  for  me  for  a  10  o'clock 
dinner.  The  Congress  ....  was  certainly  a  success :  they 
were  extraordinarily  kind  to  me,  and  the  Leeds  workmen  wel- 
comed me  and,  as  I  was  delighted  to  witness,  Woodford, 
with  a  true  Yorkshire  welcome. 

November  3. — Hollycombe.  Confirmation  at  1 1  ;  a  very 
interesting  one,  I  think.  After  service  Hawkshaw  came  and 
took  me  to  Sir  W.  Erie's,  who  most  pleasant.  He  told  me 
story  of  Lord  Westbury,  who  said  to  him,  '  My  dear  fellow, 
why  do  not  you  attend  the  Privy  Council  ? '  *  Oh,  because  I  am 
old  and  deaf  and  stupid.'  '  But  that's  no  reason  at  all,  for  I 
am  old,  and  Williams  is  deaf,  and  Colonsay  is  stupid,  and  yet 
we  make  an  excellent  Court  of  Appeal.' 

November  27. — Winchester.  Early  Communion.  Chapter 
and  Dean's  family.  When  we  came  out  he  said,  '  We  have 
made  a  good  beginning  at  all  events.'     After  hasty  breakfast 

to  town.     A  woman  calling  herself  Mrs. came  to  see 

me  :  a  striking,  sad,  almost  despairing  passionate  countenance. 
Great  traces  of  beauty.  She  '  must  have  time.'  I  could  not 
give  it  to-day.  Wrote  to  Burrows,  to  whom  she  said  she 
would  go  :  but  I  a  little  sad  at  not  being  able  to  enter  into  it, 
for  fear  of  losing  one.  The  Athanasian  Committee.  Salis- 
bury, Carnarvon,  Lyttelton  ;  Bishops  of  Rochester,  Chester, 
Lichfield,  Chichester  ;  Gathorne  Hardy,  B.  Hope,  Maclagan, 
Dean  of  St.  Paul's,  Dr.  Puscy.  Down  to  Up  Park.  Hyltons 
and  Denmans  there. 

November  29. — Up  Park.  Finished  Confirmation  scheme. 
Then  took  a  long  and  delightful  ride  ;  much  meditation — by 
those  trees  to  which  I  walked  a  boy  from  Hodson's :  per- 
fectly remember  I  not  happy  like  the  others  there,  wanting  a 
reXoy  and  worshipping  my  father— and  God  of  His  wonder- 
VOL.  III.  D  D 


402  LIFE  OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.      chap.  xiv. 

ful  mercy  has  led  me  until  now.     Wrote,  Denman,  A 

(bless  her)  and  Reg.  helping.     A— — 's  lecture  upon  overwork. 

The  Bishop  of  Winchester  to  Sir  Charles  Anderson. 

Somerley,  Ring^vood,  November  25,  1872. 

I  must  write  you  one  line  to-day  to  say  how  earnestly  I 
hope  you  may  see  many  more  returns  of  it  with  the  health  and 
vigour  God  has  prolonged  to  you,  and  still  more  the  lively 
affections  which  years  have  not  abated.  I  have  prayed  for 
you  this  morning  my  very  dear  old  friend.  May  God  bless 
you.  I  am  come  here  for  Confirmations,  Consecrations,  &c. 
The  workmen  are  about  the  house  and  grounds  and  every- 
thing is  being  done  admirably  and  effectively,  and  a  very  nice 
as  well  as  fine  place  it  is  growing  after  years  of  neglect,  with 
capital  pictures  and  what  is  better,  capital  people  inside.  Lady 
Normanton  is  a  prime  favourite  of  mine  and  her  eldest 
daughter,  whom  I  confirmed  yesterday,  is  charming.  I  go  to- 
morrow to  Winchester  to  institute  publicly  our  old  friend 
Bramston  to  the  Deanery.  How  I  wish  it  was  our  dear 
friend  Prevost. 

In  answer  to  an  appeal  to  take  a  little  care  of  him- 
self, he  writes  to  his  daughter-in-law  : — 

Ockley  Court,  Dorking,  December  4,  1872. 

Many  thanks  for  your  dear  letter  this  morning.  I  have 
been  consecrating  a  church  and  preaching  this  morning  and 
as  I  had  to  begin  the  day  with  a  dose  I  feel  beaten  this  after- 
noon and  am  staying  in  my  room  writing  a  few  letters  and 
meaning  to  rest  instead  of  knocking  about.  So  you  see  how 
obedient  I  am. 

The  Bishop  of  Winchester  to  Mrs.  R.  G.  Wilberforce. 

Sandringham,  December  7,  1872,  6  P.M. 

My  dearest  A. — I  arrived  here  about  an  hour  and  a-half 
ago  and  find  your  letter,  for  which  many  thanks.  I  am  really 
better  to-day.  We  have  all  been  having  tea,  bowls,  talk  to- 
gether and  I  have  just  come  up  to  write  you  a  line.  We 
have  here,  coming  with  me.  Lord  and  Lady  Cowley,  Sir  A. 
Helps,  General  Reilly,  Gibbs;  and  coming  down  to-night,  Lord 


i872.  THE  PRINCE  AT  SANDRINGHAM.  403 

Carnarvon  (having  lost  his  train),  and  the  Duke  of  Edinburgh. 

Disraeli  puts  off  from  her  illness,     God  bless  you  my  darling. 

The  Princess  is  charming  and  the  children  very  nice ;  but  no 

one  like  A and  her  cherubs.     Yours,  „ 

o.  vV. 

The  Bishop  of  Winchester  to  Mrs.  R.  G.  Wilberforce. 

Sandringham,  December  8,  1872. 

I  turn  to  you  for  a  little  Jiovie  feeling.  We  had  qiute  a 
pleasant  evening  last  night.  I  sat  next  to  the  Princess  at 
dinner  and  she  talked  a  great  deal  and  so  pleasantly.  Then 
we  received  the  Duke  of  Edinburgh,  who  was  a  cheerful  addi- 
tion to  the  evening  party  and  we  chatted  on  till  near  12.  At 
about  12  the  smokers  all  went  to  smoking-room,  billiards  and 
bowls  and  as  I  told  the  Prince  I  always  went  off  at  12  on 
Saturday  night  I  was  excused  and  went  to  my  room  and  in 
due  course  to  bed.  I  am  all  right  I  am  thankful  to  say  to- 
day. Got  up  between  7  and  8  and  prepared  sermon.  Break- 
fast 10.  Church  II.  A  nice  service  and  at  the  end  of  it  I 
baptised  the  black  boy  they  brought  from  Egypt.  The  Prince 
and  Princess  and  Sir  W.  Knollys  stood  god-parents  — all  the 
congregation  present,  after  the  sermon,  and  I  had  preached  a 
little  about  it  to  them.  The  young  lad  was  much  affected  and 
it  was  altogether  a  striking  sight.  The  Prince  gave  the  name, 
Albert  Alexander.  After  service  we  walked  about  the 
grounds  with  the  Prince,  &c.,  and  had  luncheon  and  now  in 
ten  minutes  are  to  assemble  for  a  walk  and  I  have  stolen  up 

to  talk  to  my  dear  A .     Seeing  these  children  makes  me 

very  hungry  for  my  Willie  and  Ba  Ba.** 

Now  I  have  stolen  away  from  the  walking  party  and  come 

to  read  my  Office,  as  there  is  no  afternoon  prayer  and  to  write 

one  or  two  letters.     The  party  breaks  up  to-morrow  morning. 

I  am  ever,  with  dear  love  to  Reg.  and  my  beloved  grandsons, 

your  loving  c.    ,,, 

^  ^  S.  WiNTON. 

The  Bishop  of  Winchester  to  Sir  Charles  Anderson. 

Ashridge,  December  10,  1S72. 

I  got  here  yesterday  from  Sandringham,  where  I  had  a 
very  pleasant  visit.     The  Prince  shines  as  a  host  in  the  midst 

*  His  grandchildren. 
D  P  2 


404  LIFE  OF  BISHOP  WILBERFORCE.       chap.  xiv. 

of  his  family  and  the  Princess  is  most  charming.  The  Cow- 
leys  too  and  others  were  very  pleasant  company.  She  is 
one  of  the  most  agreeable  women  I  know  and  he  full  of 
knowledge  of  men  and  events  or  things.  The  Duke  of  Edin- 
burgh too  was  particularly  pleasant.  This  is  always  a  charm- 
ing house.  He  ^  so  good  and  so  true  and  kind,  and  she  quite 
bright  in  her  beauty  and  loveliness.  Lady  Marion  Alford  and 
Freddie  Leveson  very  pleasant  and  Vyner.  I  had  not  heard 
that  dear  Massingberd  was  really  gone.  He  is  a  great  loss. 
As  you  cannot  come  to  me  at  Lavington,  you  must  let  me  hear 
of  you  there.     I  am  ever  your  heartily  affectionate 

S.  WiNTON. 
The  Bishop  of  Winchester  to  Miss  Thornton. 

Lavington,  December  27,  1872. 

Really  as  the  band  who  knew  and  loved  our  father  grows 
smaller  and  as,  year  by  year,  it  seems  to  become  for  the  new 
generation  and  the  Recordites  impossible  to  understand  how 
anyone  can  be  a  good  Churchman  and  yet  an  Evangelical,  a 
believer  in  the  Sacraments  and  yet  an  abhorrer  of '  the  con- 
fessional *  and  a  scorner  of  the  little  apish  Romanism  of  the 
Ritualists,  I  cling  with  an  almost  spasmodic  tenacity  to  such 
as  you.  So  you  see  you  cannot  shake  me  off  by  not  coming. 
And  I  am  here  I  hope  for  three  weeks  ;  reading  imaginary 
letters  to  my  grandchildren  and  settling  what  shall  be  grubbed 
and  what  shall  be  planted  and,  yesterday,  writing  seventy 
letters,  but  am  always  very  affectionately  yours, 

S.   WiNTON. 

December  18. — To  All  Saints',  Knightsbridge.  To  marry 
Lady  Di.*'  Back  and  to  Zanzibar  Committee.  Wrote  a 
little.  Rail  to  Southampton  and  wrote  down.  Heard  Basil 
lecture — bold,  manly,  unpugnacious  A  great  deal  of  power  ; 
so  Woodford  also  judged.     After,  we  together  at  Deanery. 

December  21. — Matins  8.30.  Communion,  &c.,  10.  Then 
with  young  men.  Evening  charge  on  Absolution  and  Con- 
fession.      greatly  upset  by  my  protest  against  the  intro- 

*  Lord  Brownlow. 

*  Lady  Diana  Beauclerk  married  Baron  Huddleston. 


1872.  THE  LAST  CHRISTMAS.  405 

duction  of  anything  like  the  Roman  view.  Dr.  Monsell 
agreed. 

December  28. — Lavington.  Up  early.  Matins.  Letters. 
Then  wrote  hard  for  some  four  hours  to  write  out  substance  of 
charge  at  St.  Mary's,  Southampton.  Rode  to  Burton  and 
home  by  Common.  Then  wrote  letters  till  six.  Evening 
pleasant.  The  three  little  cherubs  quite  delightful.  My  heart 
very  low  this  Christmas.  Ernest  suffering.  Reg.  far  from 
strong.  Bas.  so  worn  by  his  work  and  its  anxieties.  Yet, 
Praise  the  Lord,  O  my  soul. 

December  31. — All  day  poured  with  rain.  I  wrote  some 
fifty  letters.  The  Mitfords  dined.  She,  as  ever,  most  pleasing. 
A  pleasant  evening.  After  they  were  gone,  family  prayers, 
and  so  run  out  the  sands  of  another  year.  God  be  praised. 
God  have  mercy. 


VOL,  III.  *  D  D  3 


406  LIFE  OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.       chap.  xv. 


CHAPTER    XV. 

(1873.) 

DEATH  OF  THE  REV.  H.  VENN — DIARY — THIRTEEN  TO  DINNER— LAST  SER- 
MON AT  LAVINGTON— DEATH  OF  HENRY  WILBERFORCE— VISIT  TO  PARHAM 
—  LETTERS  TO  SIR  C.  ANDERSON — SIR  R.  PHILLIMORE — DEAN  GARNIER's 
DEATH — THE  JUDICATURE  BILL — PRIVATE  CONFESSION — LAST  SPEECH  IN 
HOUSE  OF  LORDS  —  LETTER  FROM  LORD  GRANVILLE  —  THE  BISHOP's 
DEATH^LETTER  FROM  PRINCE  OF  WALES — SPEECHES  IN  HOUSE  OF 
LORDS  AND  CONVOCATION  ON  THE  BISHOP — MR.  GLADSTONE'S  SPEECH  AT 
WILLIS'S  ROOMS — 'SAMUEL  WILBERFORCE.    AT   REST.' 

On  January  6  the  Bishop  writes  to  the  Rev.  R.  W. 
Randall,  who  was  formerly  Rector  of  Lavington  : — 

This  new  year  I  celebrated  early  in  Lavington  Church, 
and  I  trust  we  did  indeed  begin  the  year  with  God.  ...  I 
have  a  far  more  sustained  sense  than  formerly  of  the  nearness 
of  the  end.     Otherwise  I  cannot  say  that  I  feel  much  older. 

January  2. — Lavington.  My  night  greatly  broken.  Ex- 
ceedingly depressed  this  morning.  God  only  knows  how  tired. 
But  after  breakfast  set  doggedly  to  work.  Wrote  till  just  3. 
Then  rode.  Dear  old  Paddy  '  suddenly  on  down  fell  lame. 
EJmi  !     My  Bas.,  C,  and  Herbert  came. 

This  letter  to  Miss  Thornton  refers  to  the  death  of 
the  Rev.  H.  Venn,  who  for  many  years  was  the 
Secretary  of  the  Church  Missionary  Society  : — 

The  Bishop  of  Winchester  to  Miss  Thornton. 

Lavington,  January  14,  1873. 
I  thank  you  greatly  for  your  letter.    Dear  old  '  Father  G.' 
He  never  knew  how  much  I  cared  for  him  or  how  tenderly 

'  The  Bishop's  horse,  who  survived  his  master  till  this  year   (1882),  and  is 
buried  as  near  the  churchyard  as  circumstances  permit. 


1 873-  INNER  LIFE.  407 

affectioned  I  was  to  him.  We  travelled  once  before  the  flood, 
he,  Mary  Elliott,  Robert,  and  I,  up  to  my  father's  at  the 
lakes ;  and  he  was  so  associated  with  beloved  memories  that 
they  entwined  themselves  like  the  wreaths  of  the  honeysuckle 
around  his  whole  life.  He  zuas  devoted  to  C.  M.  S.,  and  to 
be  capable  of  such  devotion  shows  something  above  {sic). 
Once  or  twice  through  '  The  Record '  and  otherwise  he  has 
smitten  me  hard  when  he  thought  I  in  any  way  wronged 
C.  M.  S. ;  but  I  no  more  resented  it  than  I  should  have  re- 
sented Sir  Launcelot's  chivalry  for  his  Queen.  How  I  wish 
we  had  you  here. 

The  Bislwp  of  Winchester  to  Mrs.  R.  G.  Wilberforce. 

Rail  to  London,  January  22,  1S73. 

Thanks  for  your  dear  note.  We  had  a  pleasant  evening 
last  night  (at  Chichester).  A  small  party ;  Gaisford  ;  the 
Loders  of  High  Beeches,  Miss  Hubbard,  the  family,  and  the 
Pens  :  our  dear  B.^  looked  charming.  .  .  .  Do  you  remember 
tall  Canon  Best,  who  came  to  us  at  Lavington  ?  He  has  been 
taken  suddenly  by  a  stroke  of  paralysis,  never  recovering  so 
as  to  know  anyone  ;  only  three  years  my  senior.  These  things 
preach.     '  Be  ye  also  ready.' 

On  January  16  the  diary  records  :  '  After  disturbed 
night,  woke  feeling  hunted  and  worn.  To  Church  and 
committed  all  to  God.'  Such  entries  as  this,  some  of 
which  have  been  given,  constantly  recur  through  the 
diary,  and  show  how  very  near  the  Bishop  lived  to  His 
Master,  how,  in  all  troubles,  sorrow  and  weariness,  he 
took  the  burden  straight  to  the  One  who  had  promised 
to  give  rest. 

Mention  has  already  been  made  ^  of  a  book,  once 
his  wife's  book,  in  which  from  time  to  time  the  Bishop 
recorded  his  own  review  of  his  life.  Some  extracts 
from  this  book  are  here  given  with  their  dates  : — 

'  Lady  Milbankc,  sister  of  Mrs.  K.  G.  Wilberforce. 
3  Vol.  i.  p.  318. 


408  LIFE  OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.        chap.  xv. 

July  19,  1861. — Have  been  reading  these  over  with  prayer 
[his  resolutions].     I  hope  a  little  ground  gained. 

What  I  want :  To  have  Christ  /;/  me — a  presence,  a  power, 
a  moulding  life. 

Mem.  Every  day  by  a  special  resolution  with  prayer 
to  devote  that  day,  with  all  I  can  see  of  its  duties,  to  God's 
glory,  in  God's  strength.  To  bring  the  detail  of  my  life 
more  into  communion  with  the  life  of  Christ.  .  .  .  The 
greatly  increased  solitariness  of  my  position  from  this  belovedV 
death,  a  new  call  to  lean  more  on  God.  Be  more  inward 
with  Christ.  Oh,  grant  it !  Her  blessed  peace  stirs  me  up  to 
follow  her  as  she  Christ.  The  increase  of  the  inward  life 
what  I  want. 

July  14,  1863. — Survey  my  Life.  What  wonderful  advan- 
tages— my  father's  son,  his  favourite,  and  so,  companion. 
My  good  mother,  such  surroundings.  My  love  for  my  blessed 
one,  compassing  me  with  an  atmosphere  of  holiness — my 
ordination — my  married  life — my  ministerial.  Checkendon,  its 
bliss,  and  its  work  opening  my  heart.  Brighstone,  Alver- 
stoke,  the  Archdeaconry,  the  Deanery,  Bishopric,  friends. 
My  stripping  bare  in  1841.  My  children.  Herbert's  death- 
bed. How  has  God  dealt,  and  what  have  I  really  done — for 
Him  .''     miserere  Dominc  is  all  my  cry. 

Cuddesdon  Chapel. — After  meditation  on  Death,  resolve  : 

(I.)  to  take  periodic  times  for  renewing  this  meditation  ; 

(H.)  to  strive  to  live  more  in  the  sight  of  Death  ; 

(HI.)  to  commend  myself  more  entirely  as  dying  creature 
into  the  Hand  of  the  only  Lord  of  Life. 

February  4,  1873. — Lavington.  Up  betimes.  Wrote  a  little 
for  Knox  [the  Bishop  was  writing  a  review  for  the  '  Quarterly  ' 
of 'Autunnis  on  the  Spey,'  by  Mr.  Knox^].  After  breakfast 
packed  and  wrote  again.  At  2.30  off.  Wrote  in  train.  At 
Merstham  consecrated  the  Churchyard  in  the  dark.  Im- 
promptu service  in  Church  ;  preached  on  the  scene — the 
dark   ^///side  ;  the  light   in — the  parable  of  Death.     Large 

^  Mrs.  Sargent.     See  p.  17. 

•  It  is  somewhat  singular  that  the  Bishop's  last  contribution  to  the  Quarterly 
Review  should  have  been  on  the  same  subject  as  his  first,  viz.  Natural  History  ; 
the  first  article  he  ever  wrote  for  the  Quarierly  being  a  Review  of  a  book  called 
Or7titholoQUal  Rambles  in  Sussex,  written  by  the  same  author.  Mr.  Knox, 


1873.  A    SLAVE   TO  HIS  DESK.  409 

party — Wynters,  Vyse,  Penrhyns,  Bourke  and  Lloyd,  Glutton, 
Reg.  and  A—. 

February  8. — London.  Breakfast,  Grillion's.  Great  at- 
tendance. Elected  Russell  Gurney  and  Sir  James  Paget. 
Then  to  Lambeth,  and  after  three-quarters  of  an  hour  to 
British  Museum  and  back  to  Lambeth  till  5.  Athenaeum 
with  letters.  Home,  wrote.  The  Bishops  of  Rochester  and 
Chichester  dined  with  me.     A  pleasant  evening. 

February  16. —  Prepared  sermon.  In  Mr.  Rucker's  car- 
riage drove  to  All  Saints',  Wandsworth.  Very  good  congre- 
gation, and  collected  50/.  Luncheon  at  Mr.  Rucker's.  All 
most  hospitable.  Pictures  beautiful.  Houses  and  air  plants 
quite  delightful.  They  most  kind.  Home.  Service  at  Chapel 
Royal.  Walked  home  with  W.  E.  G.  In  spirits  about  his 
measure. 

February  22. — After  breakfast  saw  several.  British  Museum 
Standing  Committee.  Then  home  for  Institutions.  Took 
A —  to  Royal  Academy.  Home  and  wrote  for  4  hours. 
Dinner  and  wrote  till  10.45  !  when  to  Speaker's  with  A — . 
Home  in  half  an  hour  and  wrote  till  i. 

With  reference  to  the  Bishop's  constant  writing,  as 
shown  in  this  and  other  extracts  from  the  diary,  and  his 
large  correspondence,  a  clergyman  writes  : — 

'  Seeing  the  Bishop  look  so  pale  and  worn,  I  asked  him 
why  he  did  not  keep  a  secretary  f  He  said  that  it  would  be 
certainly  a  great  relief  to  do  so,  but  then  so  many  people 
would  be  disappointed.  "  For  instance,"  he  remarked,  "  a 
clergyman  at  Huddersfield  writes  to  ask  me,  at  Cuddesdon, 
to  go  to  the  North  to  preach  on  some  special  occasion.  Of 
course  I  cannot  comply  with  his  wish.  But  I  write  a  refusal 
myself  with  a  few  kind  words,  which  makes  it  less  annoying, 
whereas  my  secretary  would  say  it  was  '  impossible,'  and  the 
poor  man  would  feel  that  he  had  made  a  mistake."  This  was 
the  kind  feeling  which,  expressed  in  nearly  these  words, 
made  the  Bishop  a  slave  to  his  desk  and  often  hindered 
his  rest.* 

March  i. — London.  After  breakfast  and  prayers,  off  for 
Farnham.     Saw  dear  old  Bishop,  who  very  well.     Then  wrote 


4IO  LIFE   OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.        chap.  xv. 

a  little.     To  Headley.     Fair  Confirmation,  but  rather  cold. 
Home.     Charles  Sumner  came.     I  tired,  and,  alas,  drowsy, 

whilst talking  to  me  with  interest  about  Crondall.     I 

hope  I  did  not  discourage  him. 

March  6. — Off  early  for  Beddington.  Addressed  can- 
didates, morning  and  evening,  on  first  lesson — Numbers  xiv., 
&c.     Morning,  Courage  in  God  ;  evening,  Courage  for  God. 

March  7. — Morning,  early.  Address  on  Reward  of  Courage 
for  God.  With  candidates  almost  all  day.  Addressed  at 
night,  on  Reward  of  Courage  in  God.  First  lesson,  Caleb  and 
Joshua. 

March  13. — Strathfieldsaye.  Early,  read  and  wrote.  After 
breakfast  with  Joyce  through  snow,  the  trees  all  covered,  and 
most  beautiful  in  sunlight,  to  Tadley.  Woolverton,  where 
luncheon,  and  examined  Church,  and  on  with  Pole  to  Kings- 
clere,  where  nice  Confirmation.  Back  to  Woolverton  and 
Ewhurst,  where  dear  old  Plowden  rebuilding  Church.  Wrote 
with  Woodford  hard. 

March  25. — Alresford.  After  breakfast  with  Mrs.  Sumner 
up  to  Medstead.  Confirmation  too  few:  but  marks  of  work. 
Then  rode  wath  Sumner  to  Bradley,  where  Plow  and  son  from 
Zambesi.  Examined  all,  and  rode  through  Bradley  wood 
and  its  mud  to  Bentworth  and  back  to  Medstead,  some  12 
miles.  Luncheon,  and  on  to  Ropley.  Confirmation,  cold  : 
people  indevout.     Then  Bishops  Sutton,  and  home  :  wrote. 

April  2. — Confirmation  at  Hawley — nice.  Back  to  Hawk- 
ley  Hurst.  Then  to  Liss  with  Ernest.  London.  Bounty 
Benefactions  Committee.  Then  walked  with  Bishop  of 
Chichester  to  University  Assurance.  Thence  home,  and 
drove  to  Kennington.  Confirmation  at  Elsdale's.  Rude  man 
shouting  at  me  as  semi-Papist.  I  visited  Devon  in  bed  with 
fever:  back  and  with  A.  and  Ernest.  Dined  Grillion's  (13). 
Duke  of  Cleveland,  Salisbuiy,  Stanhope,  Houghton,  Lowe, 
Walpole,  Sir  P.  Egerton,  Adderley,  Paget,  Disraeli,  Whiteside, 
Fremantle — Lord  Salisbury  and  Disraeli  I  think,  checked 
each  other. 

April  5. — Very  early:  wrote,  &c.  To  Chawton,  a  very 
nice  Confirmation.  Large  parish  attendance  and  great  quiet- 
ness, D.  G.     Then  back  to   Thedden  Grange.     Walk  with 


1873.  WEARINESS.  411 

Wood,  and  thought  I  saw  our  hill,  but  doubtful.  To  Shal- 
den  and  Lasham.  A  very  nice  Confirmation.  Then  drove 
to  Basingstoke.  I  to  Windsor  Castle.  Dined  with  Queen, 
she  looking  very  well.  The  Van  de  Weyers,  to  my  great 
satisfaction — Prince  and  Princess  Christian,  Leopold,  Lady 
Churchill.  \\\  drawing-room  many  more.  The  Queen 
talked  with  me  in  a  very  friendly  sort  a  good  while. 

April  10. — Southampton.  Early.  Matins  8.  Celebra- 
tion II.  Then  wrote  letters  till  luncheon,  and  hard  to  work 
on  lecture  on  Catacombs.  Walked  with  Bas.  to  Rycrofts,  &c. 
Back  and  finished  lecture.  Large  attendance  and  well  re- 
ceived. Tried  to  keep  line  of  Church  as  against  Rome  and 
Dissent.     Back,  and  supper.     Bas.  a  cold,  alas  ! 

To  his  daughter-in-law  the  Bishop  writes  from  the 
Deanery,  Winchester:  April  12. 

I  have  had  a  very  hard  time  of  it — lecturing,  confirming, 
preaching.  I  had  such  a  congregation  last  night  at  the 
Cathedral,  hundreds  going  away  unable  to  get  standing  room. 
The  Dean  was  very  affectionate  and  jolly  with  me.  To-day 
I  have  large  Confirmations  at  Alverstoke  and  Gosport.  God 
bless  you,  dear  one,  with  all  Easter  blessings. 

And  to  his  son  Ernest  he  writes  on  Easter  Day  : 
'  I  am  well,  but  I  am  very  much  tired,  and  should 
like  to  go  to  sleep  for  a  week  or  a  fortnight.'  A  few 
days  later  (April  23)  he  writes  :  '  I  am  very  low.' 

April  15. — Bournemouth.  Early,  and  prepared  sermon. 
Little  walk  on  Chff  Edge  with  Bennett.  Beautiful.  To  con- 
secration of  St.  Clement's.  AH  most  disturbing.  Had  to 
have  two  candles  by  Holy  Table  put  out.  Hymn  stopped  in 
Offertory.  Alas  for  me  !  spilled  some  of  the  consecrated 
wine,  as  for  45  years  I  have  never  done,  from  long  angular 
foot-base  of  cup,  which  1  did  not  see,  catching  in  cloth  :  quite 
overset  me. 

April  16. — Rail  to  London  :  wrote.  Went  to  see  Gull  in 
vain.  .  .  .  Off  for  Ockley.     Heard  to-day  nightingales  in  full 


4 1 2  LIFE   OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.         chap.  xv. 

song.     Cuckoo  heard  yesterday.     I  saw  first  swallow  Tuesday 
at  Bournemouth. 

Sunday,  April  20,  the  Bishop  was  at  Lavington,  and 
in  the  afternoon  of  that  day  he  preached  at  Graffham. 
This  sermon  was  the  last  he  ever  preached  to  his  own 
people  in  that  dearly-loved  Sussex  home.  The  text 
was,  '  Peace  I  leave  with  you.'  The  Bishop  had 
never  preached  on  that  text  before,  and  the  loving, 
mournful  tenderness  which  ran  through  the  sermon 
seemed  almost  as  if  he  knew  he  was  taking  farewell. 

The  diary  of  April  24  records :  '  Heard  that 
dearest  Henry  left  us  Wednesday  morning  at  3 — in 
peace.'  The  next  letter  to  Miss  Thornton  refers  to 
the  death  of  Henry  Wilberforce,  the  Bishop's  youngest 
brother. 

The  Bishop  of  Winchester  to  Miss  Thornton. 

Winchester  House,  April  30,  1873. 

My  dear  Marianne  Thornton, — '  For  he  saith  the  old  is 
better.'  After  all,  what  is  like  the  friendship  which  runs  up 
into  the  Babyhood  and  the  Fatherhood  ?  No  letter  has  stirred 
the  embers  and  lighted  up  the  fires  like  yours.  Dear  Henry ! 
what  a  charm  there  was  about  hfm,  if  you  knew  him  ever  so 
little.  His  very  faults  were  charming  :  that  tendency  to  give 
the  reins  to  any  high  and  noble  feeling  and  let  the  panting 
steeds  dash  where  they  would  :  the  way  he,  every  now  and 
then  at  a  sudden  turn,  reminded  me  of  my  dear  father — not 
when  the  swell  of  my  father's  soul  was  on,  and  the  diapason 
sounding,  but  at  some  rather  curious  note  of  the  'Vox 
Humana ' — was  wonderful.  I  saw  him  last  in  October  :  so 
wasted  that  you  could  hardly  recognise  him  ;  the  keen, 
playful  intellect  sinking  under  the  weight  of  bodily  sickness  ; 
and  then  the  ready  pen  grew  so  languid  that  of  late  it  has 
taken  him  a  week  to  write  a  letter  to  me.  Well !  he  is  all 
right.  Though  he  made  (under  his  wife's  influence  mainly, 
and  under  Manning's  denunciations,  and  that  touched  the  want 
of  his  character,  cool  courage  when  he  was  not  excited)  the 


1873-  THE  FULL  AGE  OF  PREMIER.  413 

wrong  decision,  yet  it  was  to  give  up  all  for  what  he  thought 
the  voice  of  Christ,  and  he  will  be  no  loser  for  following  an 
echo,  when  he  thought  he  was  following  the  true  voice,  though 
the  false  echo  led  him  away  from  where  the  true  voice  spake. 
I  have  felt  all  these  deaths  deeply  :  and  I  have  all  but  lost 
Reginald's  angel  eldest  boy  :  the  most  entirely  loveable  child 
I  ever  knew :  but  when  he  was  on  the  very  edge  of  the  other 
world,  God  has  heard  our  prayer  and  given  him  back.  May 
it  be  for  good  !     I  am,  ever  very  affectionately,  your  old  friend 

S.  WiNTON. 

May  4. — Early  to  prepare  sermon  for  Whitehall  Chapel. 
Morning  confirmed  and  celebrated  at  St.  Mary's,  Southwark. 
Carriage  broke,  and  might  have  had  a  bad  accident,  D.G, 
escaped.  Rather  nice  service.  Afternoon  preached  White- 
hall Chapel.     Collected  45/.     Walked  with  Gladstone. 

May  6. — After  breakfast  wrote  till  20  to  1 1  ;  with  Prevost 
in  brougham  to  Convocation.  All  day  there,  writing,  &c. 
House  of  Lords.  Rode  and  called  on  Archbishop  of  York. 
Dined  Sir  W.  James  with  Ernest,  Gladstones,  Godleys,  &c. 
Gladstone  much  talking  how  little  real  good  work  any 
Premier  had  done  after  60  :  Peel :  Palmerston,  his  work  all 
really  done  before  :  Duke  of  Wellington  added  nothing  to  his 
reputation  after.  I  told  him  Dr.  Clarke  thought  it  would  be 
physically  worse  for  him  to  retire.  *  Dr.  Clarke  does  not 
know  how  completely  I  should  employ  myself,'  &c. 

May  10. — Early  wrote.  Dear  Prevost  went.  British  Mu- 
seum. Examined  birds.  .  .  .  Home :  wrote :  rode  with 
Ernest.  Dined  Lord  Sydney's  to  meet  the  King  and  Queen  of 
Belgians.  Sutherlands,  Cadogan,  Gladstones,  Hamiltons,  Tor- 
rington.  Gladstone  again  talking  of  60  as  full  age  of  Premier. 
Cadogan  speaking  of  his  fall  from  power  as  accomplished. 

May  24. — Breakfast,  at  which  E (his  daughter).     Saw 

many.     British  Museum,  and  Sons  of  Clergy.     With  E 

to  International.  Then  short  ride.  Then  dinner  at  Arch- 
bishop of  York's.  A  good  many  Bishops,  both  of  England 
and  L'eland,  and  not  one  word  said  which  implied  we  were 
apostles.  Ehcii,  cJicn  ;  very  low — partly  physical — tooth- 
ache— personal,  family.  Diocesan. 


4T4  LIFE  OF  BISHOP    U'lLBERFORCE.        chap.  XV. 

On  May  31  the  Bishop  was  at  Parham  with  his  old 
and  dear  friend  Lord  Zoiiche,  endeavouring  to  give 
him  the  comfort  he  knew  so  well  how  to  give.  Lord 
Zouche  was  in  great  suffering,  caused  by  an  illness 
which  could  only  terminate  fatally. 

The  diary  records: — 

May  31. — A  talk  alone  with  Zouche,  D.  G.,  very  satisfac- 
tory. A  simple  humble  faith,  resting  on  '  If  we  confess  our 
sins.  He  is  faithful  and  just.'  Hisfear  of  coming  pain.  Ques- 
tion as  to  insensibility  after  death.  Clear  to  me  that  God  is 
bringing  him  home  through  these  fires.  Rode  to  Lavington 
— mind  resting  somewhat  on  God,  and  blessing  Him  for  power 
of  enjoying  the  beauties  of  His  world  round  me. 

Of  this  ride  the  Bishop  writes  to  his  daughter-in- 
law,  that  it  was  '  one  of  those  never  to  be  forgotten.' 
It  was  his  last  visit  to  Lavington,  and  it  was  with  diffi- 
culty that  he  tore  himself  away  from  that  lovely  place. 

This  letter  to  Sir  C.  Anderson  further  describes  the 
visit  to  Parham  : — 

The  Bishop  of  WinchestcT'  to  Sir  Charles  Anderson. 

Parham  Park,  May  31,  1873. 

My  dearest  Anderson, — I  came  down  here  yesterday 
evening,  mainly  to  see  if  I  could,  as  R.  Phillimore  assured 
me  I  could,  be  of  any  use  spiritually  to  dear  Zouche.  .  .  . 
He  is  quite  manifestly  fitting,  under  God's  hand,  for  the  great 
change.  I  had  a  long  private  time  with  him  this  morning, 
and,  really,  all  is  with  him  as  one  could  wish  in  those  greatest 
matters.  I  stay  with  him  till  Monday.  The  beauty  of  the 
place  yesterday  and  to-day,  the  perfection  to  which  he  has 
brought  everything,  makes  the  contrast  of  his  sudden  striking 
down  all  the  more  touching.  I  never  saw  the  country  more 
lovely.  The  great  oaks,  limes,  and  elms  in  their  first 
brightest  green  ;  the  dark  old  Scotch  firs,  with  their  red  stems 
and  branches  and  bright  forming  cones.  I  crept  up  under 
them  yesterday  to  watch  the  herons,  a  most  charming  sight. 


1873.  LAST   VISIT  TO  LAVINGTON.  415 

Some  flying  with  food  for  the  hatched  young,  and  as  they 
come  over  the  nest  dropping  their  outstretched  legs  and 
feehng  for  a  safe  footing,  whilst  they  beat  the  air  vehemently 
to  keep  their  poise  ;  some  sitting  upon  the  top  of  the  nest, 
the  white  neck  gleaming  in  the  sun,  and  the  sharp  beak 
turning  every  way  as  they  keep  their  look-out.  To-day  I 
have  ridden  over  to  Lavington^  and  everything  was  in  glory — 
horse-chestnuts,  oaks,  beech,  elms,  rhododendrons.  Only  the 
marks  of  the  frost  of  the  20th  were  very  sad,  large  oaks 
with  every  leaf  shrivelled  up  and  black  as  if  they  had  been 
burnt.  .  .  .  How  I  wish  I  could  come  and  see  my  black-headed 
gulls  ;  but  I  have  daily  work  for  awhile.     Ever  affectionately 

^°"^^'  S.  WiNTON. 

To  Sir  Robert  Phillimore,  a  most  intimate  friend  of 
Lord  Zouche's,  the  Bishop  writes  : — 

Parham,  June  2,  1873. 

My  dear  Phillimore, — I  got  down  here  Friday  night,  and 
a  most  deeply  interesting  visit  it  has  been.  I  trust  that  I 
have  been  able  to  be  a  real  comfort  to  him.  I  only  wish  that 
I  could  stay  and  minister  to  him.  I  shall,  if  possible,  return 
to  him.  I  never,  in  all  my  pastoral  experience,  saw  a  more 
beautiful  simplicity  of  faith.  It  is  more  hke  a  child's  mind 
than  one  with  his  varied,  and  even  remarkable,  intellectual 
gifts.  This  of  itself  is  to  me  most  comforting,  for  it  must  be 
the  work  of  God  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  I  do  believe  that  he 
has  passed  through  his  darkest  time,  and  that  the  light  is 
increasing  round  him.  I  am  very  grateful  to  you  for  telling 
me  about  him.  I  too  much,  I  know,  shrink  with  men  like  him 
from  entering  all  at  once  on  spiritual  matters,  for  fear  of 
repelling  ;  but  with  the  clue  you  gave  me  I  had  no  difficulty 
here,  and  his  welcome  of  direct  religious  intercourse  was 
instant  and  complete.  I  have  to  leave  to-day  for  a  Confirma- 
tion to-day,  organ  dedication  to-morrow,  and  Ordination 
examination  after  at  Newport,  Isle  of  Wight.  With  affec- 
tionate greeting  to  all  yours,  I  am  your  ever  affectionate 

S.  WiNTON. 


4 1 6  LIFE  OF  BISHOP   WILBERFORCE.        chap.  xv. 

June  7. — Newport.  Early,  Prepared  last  address.  Wrote 
a  little  after  early  Communion  and  breakfast.  Then  having 
the  young  men  separately.  Rode  in  the  afternoon  with 
Connor  on  his  horse  :  on  Downs,  near  Brighstone,  such  old 
memories  awakening !  Back  and  Church  at  6.30.  Delivered 
charge  on  '  Receive  ye  the  Holy  Ghost.'  Woodford  wants 
me  to  publish  it :  says  the  interpretation  to  him  quite  original 
and  perfectly  convincing. 

This  refers  to  the  address  delivered  by  the  Bishop 
to  the  Candidates  for  Ordination,  which  was  held  at 
Newport  in  the  Isle  of  Wight. 

June  17. — Bishop  of  Edinburgh  to  breakfast.  Much  talk 
as  to  Colonial  Bishops'  Bill.  Great  fears  of  injury  to  Scotch 
Church  on  all  sides.  Wrote — dearest  Ernest  helping.  Then 
he  with  me  to  Esher — Confirmation.  Back,  and  to  National 
Society  and  House  of  Lords.  Rode.  Dined  with  G.  Hardy. 
Sat,  by  order,  next  to  Princess  Louise  :  she  very  pleasant. 

This  letter  refers  to  the  death  of  the  venerable 
Dean  of  Winchester,  Dr.  Garnier,  who  was  Dean  when 
the  Bishop  was  Canon  of  Winchester.  Dean  Garnier 
had  recently,  owing  to  debility  caused  by  extreme  old 
age,  resigned  the  Deanery. 

The  Bishop  of  Winchester  to  Mrs.  Pilkington. 

June  30,  1873. 

My  dear  Mrs.  Pilkington, — I  cannot  hear  of  the  peaceful 
departure  of  my  kind  old  friend  without  writing  you  a  single 
line  of  kindly  remembrance — condolence  it  cannot  be,  for  he 
is  set  free  from  the  manifold  infirmities  and  dishonouring 
accidents  which  of  necessity  waited  on  his  extreme  age  :  and 
yet  there  will  be  to  your  loving  heart  a  pang  in  no  longer 
being  able  to  minister  to  the  very  weaknesses  which  made 
him  so  dependent  upon  you.  Will  you  kindly  express  to 
Mrs.  H.  Garnier  the  remembrance  in  which  I  hold  his  family.^ 
I  am  most  sincerely  yours,  g^  WiNTON. 


1 873-  EXCLUSION  OF  SPIRITUAL  ELEMENT.  417 

July  I. — After  prayers  and  breakfast,  to  S.P.G.  Cele- 
brated, and  addressed  Japanese  missionaries,  whom  may  God 
bless  :  prayed,  I  hope  earnestly,  for  them.  Convocation,  long, 
wearisome,  and,  I  fear,  not  useful  talking.  Then  Bounty 
Board.  Then  Gladstone's.  Presented  to  the  Shah  (of  Persia), 
and  some  talk  on  House  of  Lords  and  his  visit.  Dined  Lord 
Henry  Scott.     Pleasant,  though  very  tired. 

The  next  letters  refer  to  a  subject  that  has  already 
been  mentioned,  viz.  the  exclusion  of  the  spiritual 
element  from  the  Supreme  Court  of  Appeal."  The 
Bishop,  as  will  be  seen,  suggested  that  the  apparent 
initiation  of  this  addition  to  the  Judicature  Act  should 
be  by  the  House  of  Commons.  There  it  was  carried, 
and  with  some  additions  this  amendment  was  agfreed  to 
by  the  House  of  Lords  on  July  24. 

The  Bishop  of  Winchester  to  the  Right  Hon. 
W.  E.  Gladstone. 

July  3,  1S-3. 

My  dear  Gladstone, — Now  that  Scotland  and  Ireland 
have  been  included  in  the  Judicature  Bill,  can  you  not  strike 
out  the  only  other  exception,  the  appeal  in  cases  ecclesiastical. 
There  was  a  very  united  opinion  indicated  in  favour  of  this 
in  the  House  of  Lords,  and  the  only  reason  it  was  not 
pressed  was  the  Chancellor's  fear  of  loading  the  Bill  in  the 
Commons.  Now,  if  it  could  be  put  in  in  the  Commons  it 
would  be  the  greatest  conceivable  gift  to  the  Church.  I  do 
not  expatiate  ;  but  if  yoii  think  fit  I  would  see  G.  Hardy,  or 
anyone  you  indicate.     I  am,  ever  affectionately  yours, 

S.  WiNTON. 

The  Rif^ht  Hon.  W.  E.  Gladstone  to  the 
Bishop  of  Winchester. 

July  4,  1873. 

My  dear  Bishop  of  Winchester, — You  will  learn  with 
surprise,  as  well  as  pleasure,  that  Mr.  Hardy's  proposal  was 
at  once  adopted. 

'  Vol.  iii.  chap.  4. 
VOL.  III.  E  E 


4 1 8  LIFE   OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.        chap.  xv. 

Such  a  concert  of  unanimity  is  a  matter  really  of  rare 
occurrence  in  the  House  of  Commons. 

I  hope  that  when  the  time  comes  in  the  House  of  Lords, 
if  the  Bill  should  be  endangered  by  movement  from  any 
quarter,  you  will  do  all  in  your  power  (and  it  is  much)  to 
verify  the  assurance  you  have  given  me,  or,  at  least,  the  con- 
viction you  have  expressed  to  me,  that  the  great  body  of  the 
Bishops  regard  with  favour  this  alteration  of  the  law.  I  remain 
affectionately  yours,  ^^  ^  GLADSTONE. 

The  Bishop  of  Winchester  to  the  Right  Hon. 
W.  E.  Gladstone. 

July  5,  1873. 

My  dear  Gladstone, — I  am  indeed  delighted  at  this 
unanimity.  I  will  do  all  I  can  about  the  Bishops.  I  believe 
them  to  be  generally  favourable,  but  it  is  hard  getting  them 
up  at  the  end  of  a  session. 

Canterbury,  York,  and  London  will,  of  course,  oppose. 
But  with  the  opposition  so  committed  I  cannot  apprehend 
any  real  danger.     I  am,  my  dear  Gladstone,  affectionately 

>'^^'''  S.  WINTON. 

The  system  of  private  confession,  which  had  for 
some  years  been  steadily  growing  in  the  Church 
of  England,  came  this  year  within  the  official  cog- 
nisance of  the  Episcopate,  a  discussion  upon  it  took  place 
in  Convocation,  and  on  July  4  the  Episcopate  agreed 
upon  a  Declaration,  which  was  made  public  on  July  23. 
The  line  which  Bishop  Wilberforce  took  on  this  ques- 
tion, both  in  Convocation  and  in  his  Diocese,  was 
identical  with  that  which  he  took  in  1850,  in  his  cor- 
respondence with  Dr.  Pusey."  Apart,  however,  from 
his  speeches  in  Convocation  on  the  matter,  the  Bishop 
made  three  distinct  and  clear  utterances  on  the  subject 
of  private  Confession,  during  this  the  last  year  of  his 
life.     The  first  was  at  Southampton,  in  an  address  to 

"  \'ol.  ii.  chap.  3. 


1873.  CONFESSION,   1850,    1873.  419 

the  Candidates  for  Ordination  at  Christmas,  and  was 
printed  in  January  1873.  The  second  was  in  a  pub- 
lished letter  to  Major-General  Tryon,  written  on 
February  25.  The  third  and  last,  on  July  15  at  Win- 
chester House,  was  in  an  address  to  the  Rural  Deans 
of  the  Diocese.  The  diary  for  the  day  says  :  '  Con- 
ference. God  enabled  me  to  speak  to  them.  Mar- 
vellous unanimity.'  This  last  was  j)ublished  after  the 
Bishop's  death,  by  the  Rev.  Canon  Hoare,  from  notes 
which  were  made  by  him  and  some  others  at  the  time. 
These  notes  naturally  gave  prominence  to  those  of 
the  Bishop's  remarks  which  seemed  to  favour  the  line  of 
thought  of  those  who  took  them,  and  therefore  this 
pamphlet  does  not  carry  the  same  stamp  of  authority  as 
the  other  two,  which  came  from  the  Bishop's  own  hand. 
These  utterances  were  identical  in  themselves,  and 
in  the  first,  which  dealt  with  the  subject  m  exiejtso,  the 
arguments  used  are  so  precisely  similar  to  those  used 
in  1850  that  it  seems  worth  while  to  quote  from  the 
letter  to  Major-General  Tryon,  in  which  the  Bishop 
sums  up  this  Charge  delivered  at  Southampton  ;  to 
show  that,  however  much  or  little  the  Bishop  may, 
in  obedience  to  the  laws  of  progressive  movement,  have 
varied  his  attitude  in  regard  to  mere  Ritual  observ- 
ances, yet  on  a  matter  of  this  sort,  In  which  doctrine 
was  involved,  he  never  stirred  one  step  from  the 
ground  he  had  originally  taken  : — 

What  the  Church  of  England  allows,  I  am  bound  to  allow; 
what  she  discourages,  I  discourage  ;  what  she  condemns,  I 
condemn. 

At  Southampton,  on  the  occasion  of  the  recent  ordination, 
I  stated,  in  a  Charge  publicly  delivered,  what  I  considered  to 
be  the  duty  of  the  Clergy  of  the  Church  of  England  on  this 
subject. 

I  will  briefly  repeat  it  here.     She  distinctly  condemns  the 

K  I",  2 


420  LIFE   OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.        chap,  xv. 

system  which  existed  among  us  at  the  time  of  the  Reforma- 
tion. That  system  required  confession  to  a  priest  from  every- 
one, especially  before  communicating,  as  a  condition  for 
the  obtaining  forgiveness  of  sins  ;  further,  it  was  developed 
into  a  great  engine  for  the  priest  assuming  the  direction  of 
souls,  and  hence  almost  of  necessity  it  interfered  with  the 
sacredness  of  family  relations  and  with  the  independence  of 
conscience,  whilst  it  led  to  the  compilation  of  manuals  of 
direction  which  polluted  the  mind  of  the  priest,  and  too  often 
acquainted  his  flock,  and  especially  the  j'oung  and  innocent, 
with  sins  of  which  they  would  otherwise  be  ignorant. 

Against  all  this  our  Church  protested  ;  but  she  never  for 
a  moment  deprived  her  children  of  the  privilege  of  opening  at 
their  own  will  their  hearts  to  the  ministers  of  God's  Word,  not 
to  obtain  forgiveness  of  sin,  but  that,  'by  the  ministry  of 
God's  Holy  Word,'  they  '  may  receive  the  benefit  of  Absolu- 
tion, together  with  ghostly  counsel  and  advice,  to  the  quieting 
of  their  conscience.' 

This  is  clearly  and  comprehensively  stated  in  the  Homily 
on  Repentance,  by  which  is  proved,  from  Scripture  and  the 
Fathers  of  the  Church,  the  blessed  truth  that  we  ought  to 
acknowledge  none  other  Priest  for  deliverance  from  our  sins 
but  our  Saviour  Jesus  Christ,  who  doth  most  effectually  wash 
away  the  sins  of  all  those  that,  with  their  confession  of  the 
same,  do  flee  to  Him,  and  continues  thus :  — 

*  I  do  not  say  but  that  if  any  do  find  themselves  troubled 
in  conscience,  they  may  repair  to  their  learned  curate,  or 
pastor,  or  to  some  other  godly  learned  man,  and  show  the 
trouble  and  doubt  of  their  conscience  to  them,  that  they  may 
receive  at  their  hand  the  comfortable  salve  of  God's  Word  ; 
but  it  is  against  the  true  Christian  liberty  that  any  man 
should  be  bound  to  the  numbering  of  his  sins,  as  it  hath  been 
used  heretofore  in  the  time  of  blindness  and  ignorance.' 

Here  is  the  very  pith  of  the  teaching  of  the  Church  of 
England  as  to  Confession  :  it  is  not  necessary  for  the  forgive- 
ness of  sins,  or  the  maintenance  of  the  life  of  God  in  the 
soul ;  it  may  not  be  enforced  in  any,  it  may  be  used  by 
those  who  desire  it  to  ease  the  conscience  of  doubt  and 
trouble. 


1S73.  LAST  SPEECH  IN  HOUSE   OF  LORDS.  42  I 

July  8. — Early — wrote.  Rail  to  Leatherhead.  Settled 
sermon  for  to-day,  and  composed  one  for  to-morrow.  Gave 
at  Leatherhead  prizes  to  St.  John's  Foundation  School, 
Luncheon  and  toasts.  Preached,  re-opening,  *  Arise  into 
thy  resting  place.'  To  London.  House  of  Lords.  Cairns's 
illusory  argument  on  Judicature  Bill.  Dine  Holford's.  Prin- 
cess Mary  and  very  pleasant  party.  House  most  beautiful  in 
London. 

On  the  last  Sunday  of  the  Bishop's  life,  July  13,  he 
preached  and  confirmed  at  Clapham,  the  place,  it  will 
be  remembered,  where  he  was  born.  The  diary 
records  :  '  The  day  very  wet,  and  I  very  much  tired. 
Back,  and  wrote.     St.  James's  Chapel  Royal,' 

jfiily  14. — Wrote.     Hawaiian  Committee.    Photographed, 

with    A ,  at    Stereoscopic.     Meeting    of  Bounty    Board 

Committee.  Gladstone's  luncheon  to  Prince  and  Princess  of 
Wales.  House  of  Lords.  Dinner  of  Rural  Deans  and  Arch- 
deacons, 

July  \^. — Early.  8.30  Communion.  Breakfast.  Wrote. 
House  of  Lords  for  Oranmore's  attack.  Rode  with  Ernest. 
Dinner  to  Archdeacons  and  Rural  Deans,  and  great  evening 
party  of  clergy  and  others. 

The  attack  by  Lord  Oranmore  and  Browne  men- 
tioned in  this  entry,  had  reference  to  the  refusal  of 
the  Bishop  to  allow  a  clergyman,  the  Rev.  R.  Maguire, 
to  deliver  a  series  of  ultra- Protestant  lectures  in  the 
Church  of  St.  Saviour's,  Southwark,  the  churchwardens 
of  which  Church  had  requested  the  interference  of  the 
Bishop.  Upon  this,  Lord  Oranmore  attacked  the 
Bishop  in  the  House  of  Lords,  and  accused  him  of 
being  a  sympathiser  wdth  the  Roman  Catholic  religion, 
because  he  restrained  the  lecturer.  The  whole  matter 
was  so  unimportant  that  it  would  not  have  been  alluded 
to  in  these  pages,  were  it  not  that  this  attack  gave  the 
Bishop,  on  this  the  last  occasion,  as  it  happened,  of  his 
being  in  the  House  of  Lords  the  opportunity  to  declare 


422  LIFE   OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.        chap.  xv. 

openly  before  the  world  his  emphatic  protest  against 
this  charge,  which  had  so  often  been  secretly  insinu- 
ated.    He  said  : — 

I  have  to  complain  of  the  noble  lord  for  saying  it  was 
some  tendency  to  these  Roman  doctrines  that  had  led  me  to 
act  as  I  did.  That  is  a  most  serious  charge,  as  serious  an 
imputation  as  to  charge  an  officer  in  the  army  with  disloyalty 
to  his  Queen.  I  hate  and  abhor  the  attempt  to  Romanise 
the  Church  of  England,  and  I  will  never  hear  anyone  make 
such  a  charge  without  telling  him  to  his  face  that  he  is  guilty 
of  gross  misrepresentation. 

July  I/. — Early,  wrote.  Ecclesiastical  Commission. 
Home  and  saw  and  wrote.  To  Epsom  College  for  Confir- 
mation and  prizes.  House  of  Lords.  Wrote.  Rode  in  park 
with  Ernest.  Dined  Salisbury's — pleasant  and  sensible  even- 
ing.    M (Miss  Alderson)  sang  beautifully. 

jfnly  1 8. — Early.  My  Ernest,  after  prayers,  off  for  Lap- 
land. O  my  God,  guard  him  and  bring  him  back  to  me 
in  peace  !  All  day  shaken  by  this  great  parting.  Rode  with- 
out him  in  the  park.     Wrote  all  day.     Reginald  and  A 

went  to  Drove.  Dined  Lord  Chesham's  :  pleasant,  affec- 
tionate. De  Vesci's,  Sir  C.  and  Lady  L.  Mill,  Bourke,  Cap- 
tain Boscawen,  Balfour. 

The  Bishop  was  tired  and  in  low  spirits  on  this 
day,  the  i8th.  Sitting  in  his  study,  he  said  to  his 
daughter-in-law,  '  I  cannot  think  why  I  feel  so  de- 
pressed.' She  begged  him  to  come  out  with  her  in  the 
carriage,  and  suggested  that  they  should  buy  a  new 
carpet  for  his  bedroom  at  Lavington.  To  her  surprise 
he  acceded  to  this  request — it  was  always  with  the 
greatest  difficulty  that  he  could  be  persuaded  to  get 
any  comfort  for  himself — and  they  drove  to  Waterloo 
House,  where  he  chose  a  carpet,  at  the  same  time 
suggesting  that  it  should  be  for  his  daughter-in-law's 
room  instead  of  his  own.  He  stood  on  the  steps  of 
Winchester  House  seeing  his  son  and  daughter-in-law 


1873.  EXTREME  DEJECTION  OF  SPIRITS.  423 

depart,  taking  leave  of  them  with  unusual  and  excep- 
tional tenderness,  even  with  tears.  Indeed,  to  all  his 
sons — who  had  all  been  with  him  that  week — his 
parting  was  peculiarly  affectionate  and  tender,  as  if  he 
had  a  presentiment  that  it  was  the  last  time  he  should 
see  them. 

On  Saturday  morning,  July  19,  Sir  Robert  Philli- 
more  breakfasted  by  invitation  with  the  Bishop  to 
discuss  the  Judicature  Bill  and  the  necessity  of  being 
on  the  watch  about  that  part  of  it  which  dealt  with  the 
Appeals  in  causes  Ecclesiastical.  Of  that  last  break- 
fast Sir  R.  Phillimore  thus  writes  : — 

It  was  on  July  19  that  I  saw  the  Bishop  for  the  last  time 
at  Winchester  House,  where  I  breakfasted  with  him  alone. 
His  extreme  dejection  of  spirits  struck  me  very  forcibly  that 
morning.  He  was  by  himself  in  the  house,  and  had  lost  for 
the  time  the  society  which  he  valued  so  much  of  his  children 
and  grandchildren. 

The  Bishop  wrote  for  some  time  ;  among  other 
letters  he  wrote  this  to  his  dauehter-in-law  : — 

Winchester  House,  July  19,  1873. 

It  IS  very  dull  indeed  without  you  ;  and  I  had  no  bulletin 
of  the  beloved  ones  this  morning.  I  hope  to  hear  to-morrow 
at  Holmbury.  I  hope  that  to-day's  colder  air  will  not  make 
them  worse.  I  am  trying  to  arrange  to  get  down  to  Laving- 
ton  Friday  night,  and  to  stay  till  Saturday  at  5,  then  driving 
to  Chichester,  and  so  get  to  Portsmouth  Saturday  evening. 
My  dearest  love  to  Reg.  and  the  darlings.  Your  dearly 
lovincr 

*^  S.  WiNTON. 

The  Bishop  then  went  to  the  Athenaeum  to  write 
there,  and  from  thence  he  went  by  train  with  Lord 
Granville  to  Leatlierhead.  Of  what  followed  Lord 
Granville  has  kindly  allowed  me  print  this  graphic 
account : — 


424  LIFE   OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.        chap.  xv. 

The  Earl  Granville  to  R.  G.  VVilberforce. 

Walmer  Castle,  Sept.  25,  1S82. 

Dear  Mr.  Wilberforce, — It  was  in  Rotten  Row  that  he 
wished  'to  put  himself  in  my  hands'  for  our  journey  to  Holm- 
bury  at  the  end  of  the  week.  We  hardly  spoke  in  the  South 
Western  Railway  to  Leatherhead.  But  on  getting  into  a  fly 
which  took  us  to  Burford  Bridge  he  became  cheerful,  and 
talked  a  great  deal.  He  appeared  to  know  to  whom  all  the 
houses  we  passed  belonged,  and  had  some  characteristic  anec- 
dote to  tell  of  the  owners.  After  getting  on  a  hack  hunter, 
called  Carrick  Beg('  a  little  rock  '),  which  Bernal  Osborne  had 
bought  for  me  some  time  before  in  Ireland,  his  spirits  became 
like  those  of  a  boy  ;  galloping  very  fast  up  the  long  hill, 
apparently  careless  as  to  the  ground  we  were  riding  over, 
talking  almost  incessantly  on  political,  religious,  and  social 
topics.  He  dwelt  much  on  the  subject  of  conversion  to 
Catholicism,  and  on  the  character  and  influence  of  Dr.  Man- 
ning, ^^•hose  name  I  had  mentioned,  forgetting  at  the  moment 
that  he  had  been  your  mother's  brother-in-law.  He  seemed  a 
little  anxious  on  going  down  the  steep  decline  leading  towards 
Mr.  Farrer's  house,  and  asked  whether  I  was  sure  it  was  the 
right  way.  At  the  bottom  of  the  hill,  I  asked  him  whether 
he  was  ever  tired  by  a  long  ride.  *  Never  on  such  a  horse  as 
this.'  He  then  told  me,  in  his  pleasantest  manner,  an  amus- 
ing story,  which  indirectly  intimated  his  superior  horseman- 
ship over  that  of  a  noble  and  political  friend  of  his  and  mine. 
We  broke  into  a  gentle  canter  over  a  smooth  stretch  of  turf. 
I  was  riding  on  his  left,  slightly  in  advance.  I  heard  a  thud 
on  the  ground,  and  turning  round  I  saw  him  lying  motionless. 
From  the  groom's  account,  it  appeared  that  the  horse,  pro- 
bably a  little  tired,  had  put  his  foot  in  a  gutter  of  the  turf, 
and  stumbled  without  coming  down.  Your  father  must  have 
turned  a  complete  summersault,  his  feet  were  in  the  direction 
in  which  we  were  going,  his  arms  straight  by  his  side — the 
position  was  absolutely  monumental.  I  sent  the  groom  for 
assistance  at  Mr.  Farrer's  house.  I  took  off"  the  Bishop's  boots, 
and  his  neck-handkerchief.  I  remember  my  sense  of  despair 
at  not  knowing  whether  there  was  anything  I  could  do  which 


1873.  THE  LOOK  OF  SATISFACTION.  425 

could  be  of  use.  For  a  long  time  I  could  feel  no  pulse ;  at 
last  I  could  feel  the  beating  distinctly.  I  mentioned  this  to 
an  intelligent  bailiff  who  came  with  labourers.  He  said  he 
could  see  no  sign  of  life.  I  was  afterwards  told  by  the  doctor 
that  it  was  my  own  pulsations,  and  not  that  of  what,  alas ! 
was  a  corpse,  which  I  had  felt. 

I  shall  never  forget  the  expression  of  sorrow  on  the  faces 
of  Mr.  Gladstone  and  of  my  brother  when  I  arrived  at  Holm- 
bury,  at  the  end  of  this  fearful  ride.     Yours  sincerely, 

Granville. 

Lord  Granville  said  that  while  he  was  by  the 
Bishop's  side  he  saw  a  '  look  as  of  satisfaction '  come 
upon  his  face  and  settle  there.  That  look  as  of  satisfac- 
tion, and  the  smile  that  came  with  it  never  left  that  face 
— it  remained  there  to  the  very  last.  Death  came  to  him 
as  he  would  have  wished  it  to  come.  He  had  always 
dreaded  a  long  illness,  or  gradual  decay,  the  very 
thought  of  the  slow  wearing  out  of  the  body  was  to 
him,  with  his  active  habits,  almost  unendurable.  The 
Rev.  E.  Marshall  relates  the  following  incident,  which 
shows  how,  when  almost  In  the  presence  of  death, 
there  was  no  fear  or  shrinking  from  what  Is  so  often 
called  sudden  death.  The  Bishop  himself  always 
Interpreted  the  prayer  In  the  Litany  to  be  delivered 
from  '  sudden  death  '  as  relating  to  unprepared  death. 
'In  1864,  the  Bishop,  when  travelling  to  Cambridge, 
was  In  a  railway  accident,  from  which  he  escaped 
uninjured.*'  Soon  after,  he  was  the  guest  of  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Foster  Melliar,  near  North  Aston  In  Oxfordshire, 
where  he  was  confirming.  The  Bishop  described  the 
accident,  and  said  that  at  the  time  he  thought  It  was 
all  over  with  him,  "  Were  you  not  afraid  ?  "  said  his 
hostess.    "No,  I  was  not  afraid,  but  I  thought  that  the 

"  The  diary  thus  recorded  tlie  accident  : — '■February  10. — Off  by  train  ;  at 
Littlebury  an  accident.  Thank  God,  escaped ;  but  two  hours  waiting  ;  late  for 
sermon.     Platform  at  Cambridge  crowded  with  young  men  cheering  histily.' 


426  LIFE   OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.        chap.  xv. 

end  was  comin_Qr,  and  that  it  might  as  well  come  in  that 
way." '  Mr.  Marshall,  who  was  sitting  by  the  Bishop, 
says  :  '  I  was  sitting  quite  close,  and  was  much  im- 
pressed with  the  calm  but  earnest  tone  in  which  this  was 
said.'  In  fact,  the  thought  that  his  call  might  be 
sudden  was  ever  before  his  mind.  To  his  intimate 
friend,  the  Bishop  of  Rochester,  he  often  said  :  '  I  may 
be  gone  in  a  moment.'  The  same  thought  the  Bishop 
had  also  expressed  to  another  most  intimate  friend,  Dr. 
Woodford  (Bishop  of  Ely),  who  thus  speaks  of  the 
Bishop  :  '  Never,  I  firmly  believe,  did  any  man  live 
more  continuously  in  the  thought  of  the  eternal  world.' 
And  the  Rev.  A.  P.  Cust,^  in  a  sermon  on  the  Bishop's 
death,  says  :  '  To  a  near  relation  of  my  own,  the  Bishop 
said,  but  a  few  days  before,  when  speaking  of  sudden 
death,  "  There  is  no  such  thing  as  sudden  death  to  a 
Christian."' 

Mr.  Carlyle,  when  he  heard  the  news  of  the 
Bishop's  death,  made  this  remark  only :  '  What  a 
glad  surprise  ! '  ^ 

The  Bishop's  body  was  taken  to  Mr.  Farrer's 
house,  Abinger  Hall,  where,  having  been  vested  in  the 
robes  of  office,  it  lay  on  the  drawing-room  floor  till 
Monday.  Telegrams  were  at  once  despatched  to  the 
three  sons.  Basil,  the  youngest,  was  first  to  arrive, 
from  Southampton,  and  the  writer  arrived  on  Sunday 
evening.  The  second  son,  Ernest,  landed  in  England 
on  Thursday  night,  having  travelled  day  and  night 
after  receiving  the  intelligence  of  his  loss.  The  in- 
quest, which  was  of  a  purely  formal  nature,  was  held 
on  Monday.  But  before  it  took  place,  many  friends 
who  had  already  received  the  intelligence  had  hastened 
to  Abinger  to  see  the  last  of  the  Bishop,  whom  they  so 

^  Dean  of  York. 

'  Lord  Houghton  in  the  Fortnightly  Rci'lciv. 


iS73.  COMING  HOME   TO  LAVINGTOX.  427 

loved.  Among  those  who  came  that  Monday  morninf,'- 
were  Mr.  Gladstone  and  Lord  Granville,  and  Avell  the 
writer  of  these  lines  remembers  the  scene  in  that  room — 
the  peaceful  body  of  the  Bishop,  the  lines  of  care  and 
trouble  smoothed  out  of  the  face,  the  beautiful  smile  of 
*  satisfaction,'  and,  kneeling  reverentially  by  that  body, 
Mr.  Gladstone,  whose  sobs  attested  how  deeply  his 
feelings  were  moved  by  the  sudden  loss  of  his  long- 
tried  friend,  while  at  some  little  distance  Lord  Gran- 
ville knelt,  moved  also  to  tears  by  this  affecting  scene. 

Amone  others  who  came  to  Abinwr  were  the  Rev. 
Dr.  Monsell  and  the  Rev.  L.  Burrows,  who  came 
from  Guildford.      Dr.  Monsell  thus  writes  : — 

I  saw  him  on  Monday  lying  in  his  robes,  with  his  Garter 
ribbon  round  his  neck,  and  a  cross  of  roses  supplying  the 
place  of  the  well-known  jewel.  Never  did  he  look  more 
noble  and  dignified.  There  was  a  statuesque  beauty  about 
his  head  in  the  calm  composure  of  death,  such  as  I  hardly 
ever  observed  so  distinctly  before.  As  quiet  and  as  peace- 
ful was  that  dear  face  as  if  he  had  died  in  his  bed  or  as  if 
he  was  but  sleeping  on  his  couch.  A  smile  almost  seemed  to 
hover  around  him,  as  if  from  that  sainted  spirit  so  lately 
parted  from  its  earthly  home.  To  him  the  gain  is  '  semper  ; ' 
to  us  the  loss  '  ubique  '  and  *  omnibus.' 

On  Monday  afternoon  the  hearse  started  from  Abin- 
ger  for  Lavington.  In  each  village  of  the  Winchester 
diocese  through  which  it  passed  the  church  bells  were 
tolled  in  homage  to  the  great  prelate  who  had  just  ceased 
to  reign  over  it.  At  Chiddingfold,  on  the  border  of 
Surrey  and  Sussex,  a  long  halt  was  made  to  bait  the 
horses,  the  hearse  was  drawn  up  under  the  shadow  of 
the  church,  and,  during  the  whole  halt,  the  bells  tolled. 
The  vicar,  the  Rev.  L.  M.  Humbert,  robed,  stood  on 
the  green  of  the  churchyard,  himself  the  watcher  over 
the  body  of  his   Bishop,     A  stone  in   the  churchyard 


428  LIFE   OF  BISHOP   WILBERFORCE.        chap,  xv. 

wall  now  bears  this  record  :  *  Near  this  spot  at  even- 
tide on  Monday  July  21,  1873,  rested  the  body  of 
Samuel  Wilberforce — Bishop  of  Winchester — on  its 
last  journey  home  to  Lavington.  By  a  fall  from  his 
horse  he  was  called  suddenly  from  unwearied  labour 
to  eternal  rest.  Be  ye  therefore  ready  also.'  The  body 
reached  Lavington  between  1 1  and  1 2  at  night,  and 
the  coffin  was  immediately  placed  in  the  library,  where, 
covered  with  the  Garter  robe,  it  remained  till  Friday, 
St.  James's  Day,  July  25. 

No  public  funeral  in  Westminster  Abbey  was 
definitely  offered  for  the  Bishop.  The  Dean  of  West- 
minster indeed  telegraphed  :  '  It  has  been  suggested 
that  your  father,  from  his  connection  with  the  Abbey, 
should  rest  there.'  The  Mayor  and  Corporation  ot 
Winchester  paid  a  willing  tribute  to  their  Bishop's 
memory,  by  telegraphing  to  offer  a  public  funeral  in 
the  Cathedral.  No  such  offer  could,  however  be  en- 
tertained. It  had  been  the  Bishop's  constant  desire, 
ever  since  he  laid  his  wife  to  rest  in  Lavington  church- 
yard, that  when  his  time  came  he  might  rest  there 
beside  her.  At  Cuddesdon,  at  Lavington,  and  in 
London,  there  hung  in  his  bedroom  a  picture  of 
Lavington  churchyard,  '  that  I  may  ever  see,'  he  used 
to  say,  '  my  own  resting-place.' 

This  wish  the  Bishop  reiterated  on  the  last  Sunday 
of  his  life.  The  writer  and  his  wife  were  walking  in 
the  Green  Park  with  the  Bishop  on  Sunday  afternoon, 
when  he  began  to  speak  about  his  own  death.  He 
then  repeated  what  he  had  often  before  said  as  to  him- 
self— that  his  body  was  not  to  be  touched  more  than 
was  absolutely  necessary,  his  robes  were  to  be  put 
on,  and,  above  all,  that  no  power  on  earth  was  to  pre- 
vent his  being  buried  at  Lavington  by  the  side  of  his 
wife. 


1873.      SYMPATHY  OF  THE  PRINCE  OF   WALES.        429 

Monday  morning,  July  21,  the  newspapers  spread 
the  intelligence  through  the  country,  and  with  scarcely 
an  exception,  the  whole  of  the  press,  worthily  led  by 
'  The  Times,'  paid  their  tribute  to  the  almost  irreparable 
loss.  The  Prince  of  Wales  wrote  the  followinof  kind 
and  characteristic  letter  to  the  member  of  the  family 
with  whom  he  was  personally  acquainted  : — 

H.R.H.  the  Prince  of  Wales  to  the  Rev. 
Basil  Wilberforce. 

Marlborough  House,  July  23,  1S73. 

My  dear  Wilberforce, — Although  I  have  only  had  the 
pleasure  of  meeting  you  but  rarely  since  we  were  at  Oxford 
together,  I  feel  I  must  intrude  on  your  great  grief  in  begging 
you  and  your  family  to  accept  from  the  Princess  and  myself 
our  deepest  sympathy  and  condolence  at  the  irreparable  loss 
you  have  sustained.  I  have  had  the  advantage  of  knowing 
your  lamented  father  from  my  earliest  childhood,  and  during 
the  last  few  years  have  seen  a  great  deal  of  him,  and  I  can 
never  forget  the  many  pleasant  and  instructive  hours  I  have 
spent  in  his  company  when  he  was  a  guest  in  our  house  and 
elsewhere.  His  loss  will  be  felt  throughout  the  length  and 
breadth  of  the  land,  as  no  one  worked  harder  in  his  sacred 
calling  than  he  did,  and  no  one  has  left  a  higher  name  behind 
him.  than  he  has.  I  feel  that  I  have  lost  a  kind  and  valued 
friend,  and  can  hardly  realise  the  thought  that  we  are  to 
meet  no  more  in  this  world. 

Hoping  that  you  will  forgive  my  trespassing  upon  you  at 
such  a  time,   believe  me,   my  dear  Wilberforce,  yours  very 

•^'"^^•"^ly'  ALBERT    EDWARD. 

The  Prince  also  fully  intended  to  be  present  at  the 
funeral,  to  mark  by  his  attendance  his  sense  of  the 
loss  which  he  personally,  and  which  the  country 
generally,  had  sustained.  It  was  only  at  12  o'clock  on 
Thursday,  the  night  before  the  funeral,  that  he  sent 
for  the  Hon.  C.  L.  Wood,  and  told  him  that  at  this  the 


430  LIFE   OF  BISHOP    WILDERFORCE.        chap.  xv. 

last  moment  he  found  it  impossible  to  leave  London, 
and  requested  Mr.  Wood  to  represent  him,  and  to  tell 
the  family  how  fully  he  had  intended  to  be  present  in 
person,  and  how  much  he  regretted  his  enforced  ab- 
sence. 

Her  Majesty  the  Queen  was  represented  at  the 
funeral  by  the  Hon.  and  Very  Rev.  the  Dean  of 
Windsor. 

The  funeral  on  St.  James's  Day  was  attended  by 
many  of  the  Bishop's  friends,  and  the  little  church-  and 
churchyard  were  completely  filled. 

The  Bishop  was  borne  to  the  grave  by  eight  of 
the  labourers  on  his  estate,  dressed  in  white  smock 
frocks.  The  pall-bearers  were  his  chaplains  :  Dr. 
Woodford,  now  Bishop  of  Ely,  Archdeacon  Pott,  the 
Rev.  A.  P.  Cust,  now  Dean  of  York,  and  the  Rev. 
Canon  Lloyd.  The  principal  mourners  were  his  sons 
and  their  wives,  his  daughter,  his  eldest  brother  Wil- 
liam, his  brother-in-law  the  Rev.  J.  James,  and  his 
nephews ;  also  Sir  Charles  Anderson,  the  Hon.  R. 
Denman,  the  Dean  of  Windsor,  the  Hon.  C.  Wood, 
and  the  Hon.  Sir  A.  Gordon.  Then  followed  a  long 
procession,  composed  chiefly  of  loo  surpliced  clergy, 
and  conspicuous  among  them  a  clergyman  of  colour.^ 

In  all,  there  were  about  250  people  present  at  the 
funeral.  Among  others  the  Archbishops  of  Armagh 
and  Dublin,  the  Bishops  of  Chichester,  Oxford,  Peter- 
borough, and  Rochester,  and  Bishops  Beccles  and 
Ryan,  Lord  Granville  and  Mr.  Gladstone  were  pre- 
vented by  a  Cabinet  Council  from  attending,  and  Sir 
R.  Phillimore  by  his  judicial  work. 

*  '  No  Church  could  stand  in  a  more  beautiful  spot.  .  .  .  The  trees,  the  fields, 
the  beautiful  hills,  the  exquisite  landscape  in  the  distance,  all  complete  a  picture 
which  will  long  dwell  in  the  memory  of  even  the  most  heedless  of  travellers.' — 
Rambles  among  the  Hills,  by  Louis  J.  Jennings. 

^  From  Guardian. 


1873-  TRIBUTE  IN  HOUSE   OF  LORDS.  43  i 

An  American  clergyman,  Dr.  Jackson,  President 
of  Trinity  College,  Hartford,  Connecticut,  U.S.,  was 
present  at  the  funeral.  He  had  landed  on  the 
Saturday  before,  and  the  only  introduction  he  had 
brought  in  England  was  to  Bishop  Wilberforce.'^  Too 
late  to  present  his  credentials  to  the  living  prelate,  lie 
stood  among  the  mourners  around  his  grg.ve. 

The  cross  which  now  marks  the  Bishop's  resting- 
place   bears    the   same    inscription    as    that    on    the 

coffin  : — 

Samuel  Wilberforce, 

Bishop    of   \\^  in  Chester, 

28  Years  a  Bishop  in  the  Church  of  God, 

Died  July  19,  1873, 

Aged  67  Years. 

The  '  Guardian '  says  : — 

No  Bishop  of  Winchester  had  died  for  forty  years,  and 
few  knew  the  traditions  to  be  observed  on  the  occasion  ;  but 
it  was  singular  to  know  that  the  working  men  of  South 
London  were  most  anxious  that  the  bells  should  be  tolled 
for  hours,  as  well  as  ring  muffled  peals.  The  churches  of 
St.  Saviour  and  St.  Olave,  Southwark,  and  many  others  in 
the  Bishop's  diocese,  had  flags  floating  half-mast  high 
throughout  the  day  of  the  funeral. 

In  the  House  of  Lords  the  Archbishop  of  Canter- 
bury, in  the  course  of  an  affecting  tribute  to  the  Bishop's 
memory,  said  :  'It  has  been  my  misfortune  to  differ 
from  him  often,  but  I  never  knew  an  occasion  on 
which  his  kindness  of  heart  did  not  overcome  the 
effects  of  any  difference  which  might  have  arisen  from 
a  difference  of  opinion.' 

Lord  Carnarvon  said  the  Bishop  'was  a  scholar, 
a  gentleman,  a  statesman,  and  a  Churchman  ;  but, 
above  all,  he  was  a  steady  and  consistent  friend.     He 

*  From  Daily  Telegraph. 


432  LIFE  OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.        chap.  xv. 

was  ever  ready  to  uphold  his  opinions,  but  he  was 
incapable  of  the  slightest  particle  of  jealousy.  In 
society  the  Right  Rev.  Prelate  shone  and  sparkled 
beyond  anyone  he  had  ever  known  ;  but  even  in  that 
respect  he  was  not  so  remarkable  as  he  was  for  devo- 
tion to  his  work.  Although  his  connection  with  the 
diocese  of  Winchester  was  brief,  he  had  left  in  hundreds 
of  places  within  that  diocese  marks  of  his  justice  and 
discretion,  and  of  the  vigour  of  his  administration.' 

Perhaps  the  most  remarkable  tribute  on  this  occa- 
sion was  Lord  Cairns's  :  '  My  lords,  if  every  one  of 
your  lordships  who  has  been  impressed  by  the  lustre 
of  the  eloquence,  the  splendour  of  the  talents,  the 
unparalleled  exertions  and  energy  in  the  discharge  of 
his  great  public  functions  displayed  by  the  late  Right 
Rev.  Prelate,  was  to  rise  in  succession  and  bear  his 
testimony  to  what  he  was,  every  one  of  those  whom  I 
have  now  the  honour  of  addressinof  would  rise  in  his 
turn  and  become  a  speaker.' 

Speaking  in  Convocation  on  July  23,  the  Bishop  of 
London,  from  whom,  as  this  biography  shows,  Bishop 
Wilberforce  often  differed,  thus  defends  the  Bishop's 
memory  against  the  charge  of  an  unworthy  ambition, 
which  the  'Record'  newspaper  had  hurled  against  it. 
No  one  can  read  this  eloquent  tribute  without  being 
convinced  how  thoroughly  Bishop  Wilberforce  carried 
into  effect  his  resolution  to  sacrifice  all  private  feel- 
ings for  the  sake  of  the  Church,  a  resolution  which  is 
in  evidence  in  a  letter  written  on  November  30,  1 868, 
to  Dean  Hook: — 'No  personal  feeling  of  mine  will 
hinder  my  using  every  power  God  trusts  me  with  to 
help  these  men  in  their  work  to  the  utmost.' 

'  I  saw  it,  in  one  of  the  newspapers,^  brought  as  a 
charge  against  our  beloved  brother  that  he  was  am- 

*  The  Record. 


1 873-  A    WORTHY  AMBITION.  433 

bitioiis.  Well,  If  it  be  ambition  to  be  conscious  of 
great  powers  and  talents,  carrying  a  heavier  responsi- 
bility than  perhaps  is  borne  by  many,  to  have  a  great 
desire  to  use  these  powers  and  improve  these  talents 
for  the  service  of  Him  who  gave  them  for  the  benefit 
of  the  Church  and  people — if  this  be  ambition,  I  doubt 
not  the  Bishop  of  Winchester  was  ambitious.  It  is 
a  noble  and  holy  ambition,  which  deserves  no  cen- 
sure and  needs  no  defence.  But  what  I  wish  to  bear  my 
testimony  to  is  this.  It  often  happens,  and  to  the 
Bishop  of  Winchester  it  certainly  happened  once  at 
least  In  his  career,  that  a  man  inferior  to  him  in  o-ifts 
and  powers  was  placed  above  him  in  a  position  in 
which  he  might  have  used  those  singular  talents  with 
which  God  had  entrusted  him  with  peculiar  advantage. 
Although  he  could  not  but  be  conscious  of  this,  yet 
from  the  meanness  of  envy  or  jealousy  he  was  entirely 
free.  Not  for  one  moment  were  those  happy  bonds 
of  friendship  which  had  united  them  before  relaxed,  nor 
did  he  ever  hold  back  his  counsel  and  advice  whenever 
they  were  applied  for.  Perhaps  it  was  hardly  necessary 
for  me  to  testify  to  this.  If  there  be  an  ambition 
worthy  of  a  Christian  man,  that  he  had ;  but  of  am- 
bition which  has  In  it  anything  sordid  or  base,  of  that 
he  was  utterly  Incapable.' 

The  following  magnificent  tribute  to  the  memory  of 
his  old  friend  was  paid  by  Mr.  Gladstone,*"  who  said  : — 

*  This  speech  was  dehvcred  on  December  3,  at  Willis's  Rooms,  on  the  occa- 
sion of  the  inauguration  of  the  Wilberforce  Memorial  Fund.  This  memorial  had 
been  decided  on  at  a  meeting  which  was  held  on  the  lawn  at  Lavington  after  the 
funeral,  to  consider  the  best  way  of  perpetuating  the  ISishop's  memory.  A  large 
sum  of  money  was  collected,  and  a  really  great  and  adequate  memorial  might  have 
l^een  raised  to  the  Bishop's  memory;  but  there  was  a  want  of  organisation,  and 
thus  it  has  happened  that  while  innumerable  small  memorials  were  erected  through- 
out the  Oxford  and  Winchester  Dioceses,  and  one  in  Sussex,  the  '  Wilberforce 
House  '  which  should  and  might  have  evangelised  South  London,  entirely  failed  to 
realise  its  great  object  and  is  only  mentioned  here  in  order  to  account  for  Mr. 
(lladstone's  speech. 

VOL.  in.  F  F 


434  Z//^ii    OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.        chap.  xv. 

Those  who  witnessed  the  Bishop's  power  and  prowess  in 
debate  might  think  that  he  was  nothing  more  than  a  Parlia- 
mentary debater  ;  those  who  knew  nothing  but  the  briUiancy 
of  his  social  qualities — exceeded  by  none,  if  equalled  by  any, 
in  his  generation — might  fail  to  appreciate  the  loftiness  of  his 
aims,  and  the  true  purpose  and  constant  employment  of 
his  life.  In  these  things  he  was  great ;  but  those  who  formed 
their  judgment  of  him  from  these  things  alone,  or  from  these 
things  mainly,  would  misunderstand  the  man.  They  were, 
indeed,  parts  of  his  existence  ;  but  they  were  as  dust  in  the 
balance  with  respect  to  the  hold  which  they  took  on  his 
character,  the  place  which  they  occupied  in  his  mind  and 
heart,  or  the  share  which  they  engrossed  of  his  time.  If  I 
wished  to  know  the  true  character  of  Bishop  Wilberforce,  I 
would  not  ask  it  from  those  who  have  admired  his  powers 
as  displayed  in  Parliament,  or  who  felt  his  charm  in 
society.  I  would  go  to  other  classes  of  the  community,  and 
know  from  them  what  was  the  true  and  deep  nature  of  the 
man.  To  one  class  above  all  others,  were  I  able,  I  would 
make  my  appeal.  I  would  make  it  to  those  who,  from  time 
to  time,  have  been  called  upon  to  suffer  under  the  calamities 
of  life  ;  and  I  affirm,  from  a  wide  personal  knowledge,  that 
which  others  too,  I  have  no  doubt,  can  affirm — that  wherever 
there  was  affliction  in  the  world,  thither  the  heart  of  Bishop 
Wilberforce  was  drawn  with  resistless  pov:er ;  there,  if  he  had 
a  friendship,  he  repaired  for  its  exercise  ;  there,  if  he  had  no 
friendship  already  existing,  he  endeavoured  to  found  one.  I 
would  appeal  to  another  class,  were  it  in  our  power  to  take 
their  evidence — I  would  appeal  to  the  children  of  this  land. 
I  would  ask  them  what  they  thought  of  Bishop  Wilberforce  ; 
of  one  whom  they  knew  through  the  press  by  some  of  the 
most  charming  productions  ever  written  for  the  young,  but 
who,  when  they  have  seen  him  in  the  houses  of  their  parents, 
will  recollect  how  that  extraordinary  man,  for  whom  nothing 
was  too  great  and  nothing  apparently  was  too  small,  had  for 
every  one  of  them  marks  of  his  attention  and  his  love  that 
left  on  the  hearts  of  them  all  a  record  which  they  will  retain 
through  life.  In  truth,  were  I  asked  to  name  the  most  re- 
markable of  all  the  characteristics  of  Bishop  Wilberforce,  I 


1873-  MR.    GLADSTONE'S  PUBLIC  TRIBUTE.  435 

think  I  should  state  it  to  be  this — that  while,  to  a  degree  sur- 
passing every  other  man,  his  time  and  his  mind  were  ap- 
parently absorbed  in  the  great  concerns  of  his  diocese  and  of 
the  Church  at  large  ;  he,  more  than  any  other  person  I  have 
ever  known,  seemed  to  retain  a  close,  intimate,  and  detailed 
knowledge  of  all  that  was  happening  in  the  circles  of  private 
life  to  every  one  whom  he  knew.  These  things  never  faded 
from  his  memory,  and  he  entered  into  them  from  day  to 
day  with  a  strength  of  sympathy  and  a  minutely  clear  re- 
collection that  would  have  been  astonishing  e\'en  in  an 
unoccupied  man.  .  .  . 

What  was  the  character  of  Dr.  Wilberforce  as  a  diocesan 
Bishop  }  I  have  said  that  those  might  have  mistaken  him  who 
knew  him  only  in  Parliament  or  only  in  society.  I  will  go 
further,  and  appeal  to  those  who  hear  me  when  I  say  that  those 
would  also  entirely  mistake  him  who  think  that  in  the  exercise 
of  his  office  he  was  a  man  whose  sympathies  could  be  limited 
in  their  range,  or  could  by  any  fetters  be  prevented  from  ex- 
tending to  and  embracing  all  those  who  felt  the  same  earnest- 
ness of  purpose  with  which  he  himself  ever  burned.  There 
are  those  here  and  elsewhere  who  well  know  that,  strongly  as 
Bishop  Wilberforce  was  attached  to  those  principles  which 
touch  the  frame  and  constitution  and  office  of  the  Church, 
the  staple  of  his  preaching  and  the  staple  of  his  labours  went 
straight  to  that  which  touches  the  training  of  the  soul  of  man  for 
the  great  purposes  for  which  it  exists.  And  it  is  with  reference, 
not  merely  to  the  external  labours  of  his  Episcopate,  but  to  its 
internal  aim  and  purposes,  that  I  ask  whether  it  is  an  exaggera- 
tion to  say  that  the  name  and  character  of  Bishop  Wil- 
berforce ever  must  stand  high  among  the  whole  army  of 
diocesan  Bishops,  not  of  this  country  only,  but  of  the  whole 
Christian  world,  and  not  of  this  generation  only,  but  also  of  the 
generations  that  have  preceded  it.  I  desire,  at  least,  to  avoid 
using  the  language  of  exaggeration,  but  there  is  no  word 
adequate  to  describe  the  incessant,  the  unflagging  labours  of 
this  Bishop  throughout  the  twenty-eight  years  for  which,  as 
his  epitaph  with  noble  simplicity  records,  he  was  a  Bishop  of 
the  Church  of  God.  There  are  no  words  to  describe  the 
character  of  that  activity,  beginning  and  ending  with  the  be- 

F  F  2 


436  Ln-E   OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.        chap.  xv. 

ginning  and  end  of  every  day  of  his  life  ;  there  are  no  words 
which  Avill  do  the  smallest  justice  to  it  that  would  not  appear 
to  savour  of  exaggeration.  And  this  energy,  this  zeal,  this 
unsparing  self-sacrifice,  this  many-sided  mind,  which  appeared 
to  know  all  things  in  this  world,  except  only  the  charms  of 
rest  and  repose,  could  not  be  bounded  even  within  the  limits 
of  a  Diocese,  but  must  embrace  the  whole  nation  in  its  cares. 
There  was  a  phrase  of  great  interest  in  controversy  and  in 
history  when  first  a  Bishop  of  the  Christian  world  came  to 
arrogate  or  to  obtain  the  name  of  Uni\ersal  Bishop.  But 
really,  in  a  milder  sense,  it  is  impossible  not  to  be  reminded 
of  that  name  when  one  considers  what  was  the  activity  of 
Bishop  Wilberforce  over  the  whole  of  the  land  in  which  we 
live.  .  .  .  Who  can  count  the  numbers — they  are  not  in 
hundreds,  they  are  not  in  thousands,  they  are  in  hundreds  of 
thousands — ^vho  in  every  part  of  this  country  listened  from 
time  to  time  to  the  tones  of  that  silver  voice  now  stilled 
among  us,  sometimes  like  a  murmuring  brook,  sometimes  like 
a  trumpet-call .''  No  spot  in  this  land,  I  may  say,  can  be 
found — certainly  none  where  there  is  any  considerable  con- 
centration of  the  people — in  which  that  extraordinary  in- 
fluence of  his  has  not  been  brought  to  bear,  and  there  was 
not  one  in  which,  when  he  visited  it,  he  did  not  seem  to 
spend  his  entire  self  on  the  purpose  which  he  had  before  him, 
as  though  nothing  had  come  before  it  in  his  life,  and  nothing 
was  to  come  after  it.  .  .  . 

I  say  that  he  was  the  Bishop,  not  of  a  particular  Church, 
not  of  a  particular  Diocese,  but  of  the  nation  to  which  he 
belonged.  I  say  that  his  heart  beat  high  and  strong  to  every- 
thing which  could  stir  the  feelings  or  command  the  under- 
standing of  an  Englishman.  I  say  that  his  action  went  far 
and  wide  among  us  in  a  degree  that  never  has  been  known 
before,  .  .  . 

The  lines  written  by  the  Bishop  of  Dcrry  and  Mrs. 
Alexander  on  hearing-  the  news  of  the  Bishop's  death,  ■ 
form  a  fitting  end  to  this  biography  : — 


iS73-  ^T  REST  AT  LAST.  437 

IN  MEMORIAM 

Samuel  Wilberforce,  Bishop  of  Winchester. 

At  rest. 

How  thin  the  veil  between  our  eyes 

And  angels'  wings  in  motion  ; 
How  narrow  the  long  ledge  that  lies 

'Twixt  us  and  death's  dim  ocean  ! 

They  rode  by  sunlit  copse  and  glen, 

And  'neath  the  woodland  shadow  ; 
They  spurned,  with  hoofs  that  rang  again, 

The  cruel  sloping  meadow. 

A  plunge,  a  fall,  and  to  the  rock 

The  veil  was  rent  asunder  ; 
How  swift  the  change,  how  sharp  the  shock, 

How  bright  the  waking  yonder  ! 

Old  England  heard  it  with  a  start ; 

She  mourns  with  voice  uplifted. 
Mother  of  many  a  noble  heart, 

But  ah  !  what  son  so  gifted  ? 

From  his  own  Oxford's  storied  hall, 

Her  stream  by  light  oars  ruffled, 
To  where,  beside  the  plane-trees  tall, 

His  Winton's  bells  are  muffled. 

The  whole  land  wears  the  garb  of  grief 

For  that  great  wealth  departed — 
Her  peerless  Prelate,  Statesman,  Chief, 

Large-souled  and  tender-hearted  ; 

The  man  so  eloquent  of  word, 

Who  swayed  all  spirits  near  him  ; 
Who  did  but  touch  the  silver  chord, 

And  men  perforce  must  hear  him  ; 


438  LIFE   OF  BISHOP    WILBERFORCE.        chap.  xv. 

Who  won  rude  natures  at  his  will, 

And  charmed  them  with  the  glamour 
Of  his  sweet  tongue,  and  kept  them  still 

Forgetful  of  their  clamour  ; 


Who  from  no  task  of  Christ's  soe'er, 
True  soldier,  sought  indulgence  ; 

To  him  it  wore  so  grand  an  air, 
Was  lit  with  such  effulgence  ; 

Who  sweetly  smiled  and  deftly  planned, 
And,  his  true  work  to  fashion, 

Like  hammers  in  his  skilful  hand, 
Took  every  party's  passion  ; 

Whom  men  called  subtle  overmuch, 
Because  all  threads  of  beauty 

He  interworked  with  magic  touch 
Into  the  web  of  duty, 

And  from  their  hundred  varying  dyes 
Wove  well  a  wondrous  colour. 

That  might  have  pleased  malignant  eyes 
More  if  it  had  been  duller. 


He  for  whom  many  hearts  are  sore. 

Lost  to  so  many  places. 
The  great  cathedral's  crowded  floor, 

A  hush  of  upturned  faces. 

The  village  church  where  children  knelt 
Beneath  his  hands  o'ershading, 

And  rugged  men  sweet  comfort  felt, 
Or  tender  true  upbraiding  ; 

The  Senate  barren  evermore 

Of  the  rich  voice  which  stirred  it. 

The  platform  where  the  charm  is  o'er 
That  spell-bound  all  who  heard  it. 


1873.  ASLEEP. 

How  many  a  noble  deed  he  planned, 
How  many  a  soul  he  guided 

With  sympathy  of  heart  and  hand, 
And  feelings  many-sided  ! 

And  when  the  social  lists  were  lit, 

And  worthy  foemen  tilted, 
How  flashed  the  poniard  of  his  wit, 

Keen-bladed,  diamond-hilted. 

Sleep  calm  in  earth,  a  Bishop  robed, 
Waiting  God's  golden  morrow  ! 

O  memory,  leave  the  wound  unprobed, 
Nor  bring  too  sharp  a  sorrow  ! 

Let  Love  draw  near  and  Heaven-born  Faith, 
Where  the  good  saint  lies  sleeping, 

His  white  face  beautiful  in  death. 
His  soul  in  Christ's  own  keeping. 


439 


THE   CROSS   AT   ABINGER. 


APPENDICES. 


APPENDIX   A. 

Reasons  for  altering;  as  foUozvs,  the  yd  and  Ath  Vict.  cap.  86, 
sec.  1 6,  so  far  as  concerns  the  Supreme  Court  of  Appeal. 

On  general  principles  it  is  not  to  be  desired  that  the 
spiritual  and  legal  elements  should  be  mingled  in  the  Supreme 
Court  of  Appeal,  and  grave  inconvenience  results  from  the 
existing  mixture  under  the  3rd  and  4th  Vict.  cap.  ^6,  sec.  16. 

The  presence  of  the  Spiritualty  gives  to  the  Judicial 
Committee  the  appearance  of  being  an  Ecclesiastical  Court, 
instead  of  being  the  Supreme  Law  Court  of  the  Sovereign 
revising  the  decision  of  the  Ecclesiastical  Court  so  as  to 
secure  justice  being  done  to  the  subject.  Thus  a  matter 
which  has  been  and  ought  to  be  decided  solely  as  a  matter  of 
law  appears  to  be  an  ecclesiastical  decision,  and  to  rule  and 
even  alter  the  doctrine  of  the  United  Church  of  England  and 
Ireland. 

I.  It  is  therefore  desirable,  per  se,  to  remove  the  spiritual 
clement  from  the  Judicial  Committee. 

But,  II.,  It  is  desirable  to  make  other  provision  for  what  is 
now  provided  for  by  that  objectionable  mixture  : — 

(i)  Because  the  bare  removal  of  the  spiritual  element 
would  cause  alarm  and  offence. 

(2)  Because  it  is  desirable,  and  according  to  legal  prece- 
dent, that  the  Court  should  be  able  to  send  a  question  to  be 
answered  by  experts  in  the  doctrinal  statements  of  the 
United  Church  : 


442  APPENDIX  A. 

(3)  Because  such  a  separate  acting  of  the  spiritual  and 
legal  elements  would  tend  greatly  to  allay  alarm  and  dis- 
satisfaction now  caused  by  decisions  which  appear  to  many 
zealous  members  of  the  Church  to  alter  the  Church's  doctrine, 
for  the  doctrine  of  the  Church  being  declared  by  the  Spiri- 
tualty it  would  be  perceived  that  the  judgment  was  only  a 
legal  decision  on  the  rights  of  the  special  case,  and  not  a  new 
rule  of  doctrine  : 

(4)  Because  such  cases  often  involve  questions  as  to  the 
doctrine  of  the  Church  as  it  is  declared  in  her  various  formu- 
laries taken  together  as  a  whole,  and  that  on  such  matters  it 
is  desirable  that  it  should  be  in  the  power  of  the  Court  to 
demand  the  opinion  of  experts  as  to  what  is  the  sum  of  the 
Church's  doctrine  : 

(5)  Because  that  the  supremacy  of  the  Crown  may  be 
most  fully  maintained  : 

(6)  Because  by  the  proposed  machinery  one  Supreme 
Court  of  Appeal  might  be  provided  for  the  United  Church, 
instead  of  the  four  separate  Supreme  Courts  which  exist  at 
present  and  may  at  any  time  give  different  and  varj^ing 
decisions  : 

(7)  Because  under  it  the  same  Supreme  Court  of  Appeal 
might  well  and  fitly  decide  appeals  from  the  Irish  provinces, 
from  colonial  dioceses,  and  from  the  provincial  Courts  of 
Canterbury  and  York. 

Proposed  Alteration. 

That  whenever,  in  any  case  of  appeal  from  any  Ecclesias- 
tical Court  to  the  Queen's  Majesty  in  Council,  any  question 
shall  arise  touching  the  doctrine  or  ritual  of  the  United 
Church  of  England  and  Ireland,  the  Judicial  Committee  of 
the  Privy  Council  shall  state  such  question  in  writing,  and 
send  it  to  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  for  the  opinion  of 
the  Episcopal  Board  of  Reference  hereinafter  mentioned  ;  and 
the  Episcopal  Board  of  Reference  shall,  if  they  think  fit,  or  if 
the  promoter  or  defendant  in  the  suit  require  it,  cause  the 
question  to  be  argued  before  them  by  counsel,  or  by  divines 
being  clergymen  of  the  said  United  Church,  or  by  both  ;  and 


ylPPEXDIX  A.  443 

the  Episcopal  Board  of  Reference  shall  return  their  opinion  ' 
to  the  Judicial  Committee  of  the  Privy  Council ;  and  the 
Judicial  Committee,  after  consideration  of  such  opinion,  shall 
recommend  to  Her  Majesty  such  judgment  upon  the  case  as 
to  them  shall  seem  just. 

The  Episcopal  Board  of  Reference  shall  consist  of— 

The    Archbishops    of    Canterbury,   York,    Armagh,    and 
Dublin,  and  the  Bishop  of  London  : 

Four  other  Bishops   of  the  province  of  Canterbury,  to  be 
elected  by  the  Bishops  of  that  province  : 

Two  Bishops  of  the  province  of  York,  to  be  elected  by  the 
Bishops  of  that  province  : 

One  Bishop  of  the  province  of  Armagh,  to  be  elected  by 
the  Bishops  of  that  province  : 

One  Bishop  of  the  province  of  Dublin,  to  be  elected  by 
the  Bishops  of  that  province. 

As  soon  as  conveniently  may  be  after  the  passing  of  this 
Act  the  Archbishops  of  Canterbury,  York,  Armagh,  and 
Dublin  shall  convene  the  Bishops  of  their  respective  pro- 
vinces, and  cause  them  respectively  to  elect  the  number  of 
members  of  the  Episcopal  Board  of  Reference  hereinbefore 
appointed  for  each  province  ;  and  the  names  of  the  Bishops 
elected  to  be  such  members  shall  be  recorded  in  the  registries 
of  the  provinces  to  which  such  Bishops  respectively  belong ; 
and  every  Bishop  so  elected  shall  continue  to  be  a  member 
of  the  Episcopal  Board  of  Reference  during  his  life,  unless 
he  shall  resign  his  office  as  such  member  by  writing  under 
his  hand  and  seal  addressed  to  the  Archbishop  of  the  pro- 
vince for  which  he  was  elected.  And  whenever  any  elected 
member  of  the  Episcopal  Board  of  Reference  shall  vacate 
his  office  as  such  member,  whether  by  death  or  resignation, 
the  Archbishop  of  the  province  shall,  as  soon  as  may  be, 
convene  the  Bishops  of  the  province,  and  cause  them  to  elect 
another  Bishop  to  be  a  member  of  the  Episcopal  Board  of 
Reference,  in  place  of  the  member  who  shall  have  so  vacated 
his  office. 

•  This  was  afterwards  changed,  and  the  Clause  ran  so  that,  in  case  of  differ- 
ence, each  Jjishop  should  state  his  opinion.  The  change  was  made  at  the  sug- 
gestion of  the  Bishop  of  St.  David's. — Ed. 


444  APPENDIX  A. 

X\\<\  whenever  the  Judicial  Committee  of  the  Privy 
Council  shall,  according  to  the  provisions  of  this  Act,  send  a 
question  to  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  for  the  opinion  of 
the  Episcopal  Board  of  Reference  the  Archbishop  shall, 
without  delay,  send  letters  missive  to  all  the  members  of  the 
said  Board  requiring  them  to  meet  for  the  consideration  of 
such  question,  at  a  time  and  place  to  be  specified  in  such 
letter  ;  such  time  being  not  less  than  fourteen,  nor  more 
than  ticentj'-eighf,  days  from  the  delivery  of  such  question  to 
the  said  Archbishop  :  and  any  number,  being  not  less  than 
seven  of  the  members  of  the  said  Board,  who  shall  be  assem- 
bled in  pursuance  of  such  letters,  shall  be  competent  to  act,  and 
may  proceed  to  consider  and  return  their  opinion  upon  such 
question,  and  may  adjourn  from  time  to  time  as  to  them  may 
seem  necessary  :  and  if,  at  the  first  or  any  adjourned  meeting, 
less  than  seven  members  of  the  said  Board  shall  be  present, 
those  who  are  present  may  adjourn  the  meeting,  and  the 
Archbishop  or  Bishop  of  the  highest  rank  who  may  be 
present  at  any  meeting  of  the  Board  shall  preside  thereat. 


APPENDIX     B. 


FIRST   REPORT. 

To  the  Qiiccii's  Most  ExccUcut  Majesty. 

Your  Majesty  having  been  graciously  pleased  to  issue  a 
Commission  reciting  that  'differences  of  practice  have  arisen 
from  varying  interpretations  put  upon  the  rubrics,  orders,  and 
directions  for  regulating  the  course  and  conduct  of  public 
worship,  the  administration  of  the  Sacraments,  and  the  other 
services  contained  in  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer  according 
to  the  use  of  the  United  Church  of  England  and  Ireland,  and 
more  especially  with  reference  to  the  ornaments  used  in  the 
churches  and  chapels  of  the  said  United  Church  and  the 
vestments  worn  by  the  ministers  thereof  at  the  time  of  their 
ministration,' — and  that  '  it  is  expedient  that  a  full  and  im- 
partial inquiry  should  be  made  into  the  matters  aforesaid 
with  the  view  of  explaining  or  amending  the  said  rubrics, 
orders,  and  directions,  so  as  to  secure  general  uniformity  of 
practice  in  such  matters  as  may  be  deemed  essential,' — and 
enjoining  your  Commissioners  to  make  diligent  inquiry  into 
all  and  every  the  matters  aforesaid,  and  to  report  thereupon 
from  time  to  time  as  to  them,  or  any  ten  or  more  of  them, 
may  appear  to  be  most  expedient,  having  regard  not  only 
to  the  said  rubrics,  orders,  and  directions  contained  in  the 
said  Book  of  Common  Prayer,  but  also  to  any  other  laws  or 
customs  relating  to  the  matters  aforesaid,  with  pov/er  to 
suggest  any  alterations,  improvements,  or  amendments  with 
respect  to  such  matters  as  the}',  or  any  ten  or  more  of 
them,  may  think  fit  to  recommend, 


446  APPENDIX  P.. 

We,  your  Majesty's  Commissioners,  have,  in  accordance 
with  the  terms  of  your  Majesty's  Commission,  directed  our 
first  attention  to  the  question  of  tlie  vestments  worn  by  the 
ministers  of  the  said  United  Church  at  the  time  of  their 
ministration,  and  especially  to  those  the  use  of  which  has 
been  lately  introduced  into  certain  churches. 

We  find  that  whilst  these  vestments  are  regarded  by  some 
witnesses  as  symbolical  of  doctrine,  and  by  others  as  a  dis- 
tinctive vesture  whereby  they  desire  to  do  honour  to  the 
Holy  Communion  as  the  highest  act  of  Christian  worship, 
they  are  by  none  regarded  as  essential,  and  they  give  grave 
offence  to  many. 

We  are  of  opinion  that  it  is  expedient  to  restrain  in  the 
public  services  of  the  United  Church  of  England  and  Ireland 
all  variations  in  respect  of  vesture  from  that  which  has  long 
been  the  established  usage  of  the  said  United  Church,  and 
we  think  that  this  may  be  best  secured  by  providing  aggrieved 
parishioners  with  an  easy  and  effectual  process  for  complaint 
and  redress. 

We  are  not  yet  prepared  to  recommend  to  your  Majesty 
the  best  mode  of  giving  effect  to  these  conclusions,  with  a 
view  at  once  to  secure  the  objects  proposed  and  to  promote 
the  peace  of  the  Church  ;  but  we  have  thought  it  our  duty  in 
a  matter  to  which  great  interest  is  attached  not  to  delay  the 
communication  to  your  Majesty  of  the  results  at  which  we 
have  already  arrived. 

We  have  placed  in  the  Appendix  the  evidence  of  the 
witnesses  examined  ;  the  documents  referred  to  in  the 
evidence  or  produced  before  the  Commissioners  ;  the  cases 
which  had  been  submitted  to  eminent  counsel  on  either  side 
of  the  question,  together  with  the  opinions  thereupon  ;  also 
the  Report  on  the  subject  made  by  the  Committee  of  the 
Lower  House  of  the  Convocation  of  the  province  of  Canter- 
bury, and  the  Resolutions  passed  by  the  Upper  as  well  as  the 
Lower  House  of  that  Convocation ;  and  the  Resolution 
passed  by  the  Convocation  of  the  province  of  York. 

All  which  we  humbly  beg  leave  to  submit  to  your 
Majesty. 


APPENDIX  B. 


C.  T.  Cantuar. 
M.  G.  Armagh. 
Stanhope. 
Harrowbv. 
Beauchajmp. 
A.  C.  London. 
C.  St.  David's. 

S.  OXON. 

C.J.  Gloucester  and 

Bristol. 
Portman. 
Ebury. 

Spencer  H.  Walpole. 
Edward  Cardwell. 
Joseph  Napier. 
William  Page  Wood. 
*ROBERT     J.    PniLi.i- 

MORE. 


L.S.) 
L.S.) 
L.S.) 
L.S.) 
L.S.) 
L.S.) 
L.S.) 
L.S.) 

L.S.) 
L.S.) 
L.S.) 
L.S.) 
L.S.) 
L.S.) 
L.S.) 

(L.S.) 


Travers  Twiss. 

John    Duke    Cole- 
ridge. 

John  Abel  Smith. 
■^A.   J.  B.  Beresford 
Hope. 

J.  G.  Hubbard. 

Arthur    Penrhyn 
Stanley. 

H.  Goodwin. 

J.  A.  Jeremie. 

R.  Payne  Smith. 

Henry  Venn. 

W.  G.  Humphry. 

Robert  Gregory. 
fTHOMAS    Walter 
Perry. 


447 

(L.S.) 

(L.S.) 
(L.S.) 

(L.S.) 
(L.S.) 

(L.S.) 
(L.S.) 
(L.S.) 
(L.S.) 
(L.S.) 
(L.S.) 
(L.S.) 

(L.S.) 


W.  F.  Kemp,  Secretary. 

19th  August,  1867. 

*  We  agree  to  the  main  proposition  contained  in  this 
Report,  and  have  therefore  signed  it,  upon  the  understanding 
that  it  does  not  exchide  the  consideration  of  cases,  in  which 
the  authority  of  the  Bishop  and  the  rights  of  the  parishioners 
and  congregations  are  carefully  guarded. 

Robert  J.  Phillimore. 
A.  J,  B.  Beresford  Hope. 

t  In  signing  this  Report,  I  think  it  right  to  express  my 
conviction  that  any  power  to  '  restrain  '  the  '  variations  in 
re-spect  of  vesture,'  to  which  the  Report  refers,  ought  to  be 
limited  to  cases  in  which  'grave  offence'  is  likely  to  be  given 
by    introducing    such    '  vesture '    into     churches    against    the 


448  APPENDIX  B. 

mind  of  the  people;  and  also  to  state  that  by 'aggrieved 
parishioners '  I  understand  to  be  meant  those  who,  being 
bona  fide  members  and  communicants  of  the  Church  of 
England,    have    a    reasonable   ground    for    '  complaint  and 

^"^'^''^^^•'  Thos.  W.  Perry. 


INDEX. 


ABERCORN 

A  BERCORN,  Duke  of,  vol.  iii. 

/\     237 

Aberdeen,  Earl  of,  on  Convocation, 
ii.  160,  161,  175,  186,269;  does 
not  object  to  Convocation  being 
formally  assembled,  230,233  ;  on 
Denison  case,  237  ;  conversation 
with  Queen  and  Prince  Albert, 
274,  276  ;  honesty  of,  279  ;  wishes 
of,  for  Bishop  Wilberforce,  283, 
319  ;  conversations  with  Bishop 
Wilberforce,  280,  315,  330,  333, 
409,  412,  414  ;  Bishop  Wilber- 
force's  visit  to,  334,  341  ;  at 
Lavington,  286,  287,  348,  374; 
funeral  of,  464-466 

Abinger  Hall,  iii.  426,  427  ;  cross 
at,  439 

Acland,  Dr.,  ii.  304,  305  ;  iii.  14 

—  Mr.  T.,  65,  85,  116,  15S,  212  ; 
ii.  176  ;  afterwards  Sir  T. 

—  SirT.  D.,  i.  65,85,  116,  148 
Adare,  Lord,  i.  153 
Addams,  Dr.,  i.  495,  508 
Adderley,   Sir   C.    (Lord    Norton), 

iii.  410 
Addington,  visit   to,  iii.    175,  389, 

390 

Address,  answer  to,  on  '  Essays 
and  Reviews,'  by  Archbishop 
and  Bishops  of  Province  of  Can- 
terbury, iii.  5 

*  Agathos,'  written  by  Bishop  Wil- 
berforce,!. 140,  156,  157 

Ailesbury,  Lord,  letter  from,  iii. 
40 

Airey,  Sir  R.,  ii.  271 

Albert,  H.R.H.  Prince,  i.  176,  199, 
200,  224,  377,  397,  398  ;  ii.  165, 
t66,  228,  274,  275  ;  letter  of,  on 
duties  of  a  Bishop,  i.  231 

VOL.  in. 


ANDERSON 

Alderney,  Confirmation  at,  iir.  364 
Alderson,  Baron,  ii,  12  ;  letters  to 

Bishop  Wilberforce  as   to    iVlr. 

Alhes,  24,  25 

—  Dr.,  ii.  121 

—  Miss,  iii.  422 

Alexander,  Mrs.,  lines  by,  on  Bishop 
Wilberforce's     death,     iii.    436- 

439 

—  Bishop  of  Derry,  iii.  263,  284- 
287 ;  lines  by,  on  Bishop  Wilber- 
force's death,  436-439 

Alford,  Lady  M.,  iii.  404 

Alfred,  H.R.H.  Prince,  Confirma- 
tion of,  ii.  442 

Allies,  Rev.  T.  W.,  ii.  16  ;  letters 
to,  17,  19,  20,  23,  24,  25,  26; 
joins  the  Church  of  Rome,  27 

All  Souls,  Warden  of.    St^e  Leighton 

Almonership,  Lord  High,  iii.  306 

Alnwick,  visit  to,  iii.  154 

Althorpe,  Lord,  ii.  408,  414 

Alverstoke,  i.  169-176,  211,  273, 
315  ;  Confirmation  at,  iii.  344, 
372,411 

American  Church,  History  of,  by 
S.  Wilberforce,  i.  109,  235,  240, 
260 

Anderson,  Sir  Charles,  friendship 
for,  i.  27,  31,  119;  tour  abroad 
with,  37  ;  letters  to,  from  Bishop 
Wilberforce,  on  living  of  S. 
Dunstan's-in-the-West,  72  ;  de- 
scribing Mrs.  Sargent,  100 ;  on 
Winchester  Meeting,  108 ;  on 
Oxford  movement,  113,  128;  on 
education,  130,  151  ;  on  Arch- 
deaconry of  Surrey,  155  ;  on 
chaplaincy  to  Prince  Albert,  176; 
on  Mrs.  S.  Wilberforce's  death, 
188  ;  on  Dr.  Hook's  letter,  196  ; 


G  G 


450 


INDEX. 


ANSON 


on  Mr.  Sibthorpe,  203  ;  on  Sir  R. 
Peel,  265  ;  on  Gorham  judgment, 
ii.  41,  45  ;  on  Archdeacon  Wil- 
berforce's  secession,  258  ;  on 
visit  to  Tuileries,  294  ;  on  Lord 
Aberdeen,  334  ;  on  Archdeacon 
Wilberforce's  death,  337  ;  on 
Leeds  Meeting,  350  :  of  con- 
dolence, 407  ;  on  the  new  year, 
435  ;  on  Mrs.  Sargent's  death, 
iii.  19 ;  on  Prince  Consort's 
funeral,  43  ;  on  appointments  to 
the  Archbishoprics,  64  ;  on  con- 
secration of  mausoleum,  72  ;  on 
Prince  of  Wales's  wedding,  iii. 
88  ;  on  Lord  Chancellor's  attack, 
144  ;  on  tour  with  Queen  Emma, 
172  ;  on  Ritual  Commission.  183  ; 
on  Mr.  Disraeli,  233  ;  as  to  Irish 
Church,  241  ;  on  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Pye's  secession  to  Rome,  256  ; 
on  Mr.  Disraeli's  Church  appoint- 
ments, 269,  270  ;  on  jMr.  Glad- 
stone, 272  ;  on  judgment  in 
Martin  v.  Mackonochie,  293  ;  on 
visit  to  Hatfield,  373  ;  on  visits 
in  Diocese,  376 ;  at  Winchester 
House,  379,  396  ;  letters  to,  from 
Bishop  Wilberforce :  fromSomer- 
ley,  402  ;  from  Sandringham, 
403  ;  from  Parham,  414  ;  present 
at  Bishop  Wilberforce's  funeral, 
430 ;  letter  to,  from  Dean  Hook, 
iii.  265 

Anson,  Hon.  George,  i.  219,  263  ; 
letter  from,  on  appointment  to 
Oxford,  274 ;  praises  Bishop's 
Corn-law  speech,  368  ;  a  true  and 
fast  friend,  ii.  273,  275 

Antwerp,  Confirmation  at,  iii.  136 

'  Apostolical  Ministry,'  sermon  on, 
i.  67 

Appeal,  Court  of  Final,  ii.  4,  40, 

51.  137,  350,  354,  355  ;  iii-  102- 

112,417 
Arbuthnot,  Mr.,  ii.  356 
Arches,  Court  of,  Hampden's  case 

in  reference  to,  i.  298,  437,  438, 

445,  447,  448,  450.  452>  453,  458, 
467,  486,  495,  497,  505  ;  Allies' 
case,  in  reference  to,  ii.  21,  24  ; 
Gorham's  case  remitted  to,  37, 
52  ;  decision  of,  in  Ditcher  v. 
Denison,  ii.  327 
Arches,  Dean  of.  See  Fust,  Sir  H. ; 


BARING 

Dodson,  Sir  J.  ;  Lushington, 
Dr.  S.  ;  Phillimore,  Sir  R. 

Ardley,  Confirmation  at,  iii.  133 

Argyll,  Duke  of,  iii.  237,  397 

Armagh,  Archbishop  of.  See 
Beresford 

Arnold,  Dr.,  i.  67,  424 

Ashburton,  Lord,  i.  173,  260,  370  ; 
ii.  7 

Ashley,  Lord,  letter  to,  i.  68.  See 
Shaftesbury,  Lord 

Ashhurst,  Rev.  J.,  letter  to,  on  re- 
signation of  See  of  Oxford,  iii. 

309 
Ashwell,  Rev.  Canon,  anecdote  of, 

i-  345 
Aston  Tirrold,  Confirmation  at,  iii. 

296 
Auckland,    Lord   Bishop   of   Bath 

and  Wells,  ii.  240,  380  ;  iii.  5 
Aylesbury,  Confirmation  at,  i.  394  ; 

Charge  delivered  at,  iii.  93 
Aytoun,  Professor,  iii.  69 


B' 


lABlNGTON,  G.,  forbids  S. 
Wilberforce  taking  Vicarage 
of  Leeds,  i.  103,  120 

Baddeley,  i.  203 

Bagot,  Bishop,  i.  259  ;  entrusts 
Denison  case  to  Bishop  Wilber- 
force, ii.  234,  238  ;  death  of,  240 

Balaclava,  battle  of,  conversatiori 
with  Speaker  on,  ii.  271 

Balfour,  Mr.  C,  iii.  382,  422 

Balmoral,  ii.  275 

Bampton  Lectures,  by  Dr.  Hamp- 
den, i.  92,  421-424,  428,  455-502 

S.  Wilberforce  appointed  to 

deliver,  i.  176 

—  Mission  and  Ordination  at,  iii. 

131 

Banbury,  Lent  Mission  at,  n.  31- 
34 ;  sermons  at,  iii.  14 ;  Con- 
firmation at,  iii.  15 

Bancroft,  Mr.,  American  Minister, 
ii.  7 

Bangor,  Bishop  of.  Sec  Bethell  ; 
Campbell 

—  sermons  at,  ii.  384  ;  iii.  23,  35, 
147  ;  speech  at,  for  S.P.G.,  257 

Barford,  Great,  sermon  at,  iii.  35 
Baring,  Bishop  of  Gloucester  and 

Durham,  ii.   320,  402,  441  ;    iii. 

192,  284,  288 


INDEX. 


451 


BARING 


BRAMSTON 


Baring,  Bingham,  ii.  g 

—  F.,  i.  65  ;  ii.  319  (misprinted 
Barry) 

Barmouth,  stay  at,  i.  23,  25 
Barnes,  Archdeacon,  i.  147 
Barter,     Rev.     C,    letter    to,     on 
observance  of  Sunday,  ii.  46 

—  Warden,  i.  1 1 1 

Basford,  Notts.,  sermon  and  speech 

at,  iii.  36,  ■^:,-] 
Bath,  Marchioness  of,  i.  173 
Bath  and  Wells,    Bishop   of.     See 

Auckland;  Bagot 
Bathurst,  Lord,  ii.  ■^^1 
Battersea,  sermon  at,  iii.  343 
Beachampton,  sermon  at,  ii.  418 
Beaconsfield,  Earl  of,  iii.  305.     See 

Disraeli 
Beauchamp,  Earl,  iii.  214,  216,  217, 

227 
Beccles,  Bishop,  iii.  430 
Beddington,  Ordination  at,  iii.  410 
Belgians,  King  of  the,  i.   236  ;  ii. 

374  ;  iii-  413 

—  Queen  of  the,  i.  236;  iii.  413 
Belvoir  Castle,  i.  396 ;  sermon  at, 

308,  397 
Bennett,  Rev.  Mr.,  iii,  411 

—  Rev.  W.,  and  Bishop  of  Lon- 
don, ii.  7,  125  ;  votes  against 
Mr.  Gladstone,  158,  159 

Benson,  Dr.,  i.  84 

Berens,  Archdeacon,  letter  to,  on 

Gorham  judgment,  ii.  43 
Beresford,   Most  Rev.  Archbishop 

of  Armagh,  iii.  90,  261,  284,  286, 

430 
Bessborough,  Earl  of,  story  of,  ii. 

288  ;  iii.  380 
Best,  Hon.  and   Rev.   Canon,   iii. 

407 
Bethell,  Bishop  of  Bangor,  ii.  380  ; 

visit  to,  384 
Bethune,  Archdeacon,  ii.  174,  175  ; 

letter     to,    on     Canada     Clergy 

Reserves,  ii.  176 
Bickersteth,  Archdeacon,  i.  501  ;  ii. 

249 

—  Bishop  of  Ripon,  ii.  191,  343, 
378,  380,  383,  ;  iii.  284,  287,  400 

Binfield,  Confirmation  at,  iii.  180 
Bird,  Hannah,  i.  82 
Birley,  H.,  M.P.,  iii.  399 
Bisham,  Confirmation  at,  iii.  180 
Bishops'  Resignation  Bill,  iii.  304 


Bishopstowe,  visit  to,  ii.  336 

Blackdown,  visit  to,  iii.  380 

Blakesley,  Mr.,  i.  153 

Ble,  Abbd  de,  catechising  in  St. 
Ouen  Cathedral,  ii.  289,  290,  291 

Blenheim,  visit  to,  iii.  233 

Blomfield,  Bishop  of  London,  ser- 
mons by,  i.  65,  84,  120;  conversa- 
tion with  Bishop  Wilberforce, 
102, 124 ;  on  Archdeacon's  duties, 
282 ;  diocesan  work  of,  343  ; 
letter  of  and  opinion  on  Hamp- 
den's case,  430  ;  letter  to,  on 
Convocation,  ii.  136  ;  letter  to, 
on  Prof.  Maurice,  214  ;  at  open- 
ing of  Cuddesdon  College,  246  ; 
at  S.P.G.  meeting,  248 ;  in  House 
of  Lords,  41,  42,  249  ;  letter  of,  to 
Bishop  Wilberforce  deprecating 
his  resignation,  ii.  264  ;  on  Con- 
vocation, 276,  287  ;  illness  of, 
281,  315;  resignation  of,  314; 
reproach  of,  316;  funeral  of,  348 

Bloxham,  Confirmation  at,  iii.  242 

Blunt,  Rev.  Mr.,  i.  69,  84  ;  iii.  297  ; 
refuses  Bishopric  of  Salisbury,  ii. 

233 
Boone,  Rev.  Mr.,  i.  118 
Boscawen,  Captain,  iii.  422 
Bourke,  Rev.  G.,  iii.  409 
Bournemouth,  Consecration  at,  iii. 

411,412 
Bow    Church,    attempt     to    resist 

Hampden's  Confirmation   in,    i. 

472, 495,  506  ;  Dr.  S.  Wilberforce 

confirmed   in,    i.    315  ;  iii.    319  ; 

Dr.  Temple  confirmed  in,  319 
Boyle,  Mr.  Patrick,  early  friend  of 

Bishop   Wilberforce,    i.    27,  31  ; 

political  letters  to,  31,  39,  45,  58, 

Boyne  Hill  case,  ii.  386,  390,  396, 
397;  Archdeacon  Randall's  letter 
orij  398,  399  ;  letter  to  Com- 
missioners of,  400 

—  —  Church,  sermon  at,  iii.  177  ; 
Confirmations  at,  180,  296 

Braddenham,  Confirmation  at,  iii. 
242 

Bradfield,  sermon  at,  ii.  12 

Bradford,  address  from  working 
men  at,  i.  391  ;  meeting  at,  ii. 
403 

Bramston,  Dean  of  Winchester,  i. 
27,  85,  102  ;  iii.  401 


G  G  2 


452 


INDEX. 


BRASSEY 


Brassey,  T.,  M.P.,  iii.  y]-] 
Bray,  sermon  at,  iii.  71  ;  Confirma- 
tions at,  180,  296 
Breamore,  visit  to,  iii.  373 
Brewster,  A.,  ii.  410 

—  Sir  D.,  i.  239 

Brickhill,  Confirmation  at,  iii.  48  ; 
Bishop  Wilberforce's  illness  at, 
iii.  48 

Bridges,  Mr.  C,  i.  64 

Bridlington,  i.  221 

Brighstone  Rectory,  Bishop  Wilber- 
force's hfe  at,  i.  47,  51,  58,  74; 
sermon  at,  162;  Bishop  Wilber- 
force  and  Dr.  Woodford's  visit  to, 
i.  338  ;  visits  to,  iii.  225,  226,  228 ; 
sermon  at,  226  ;  last  visit  to,  416 

Bright,  Rev.  Canon,  iii.  393 

—  Right  Hon.  John,  on  Dis- 
establishment, ii.  247  ;  second  in 
House  of  Commons,  423  ;  story 
of,  iii.  223,  224 

Brighton,  i.  191,  219  ;  meeting  for 
Southern  African  Mission  held 
at,  ii.  460  ;  speech  on  '  Cram '  at, 
iii.  93 

Bristol,  Bishop  of  Gloucester  and. 
See  Baring  ;  EUicott  ;  Monk  ; 
Thomson 

—  Dean  of.     See  Elliott 

British  Association,  meetings  of, 
at  York,  i.  234 ;  at  Cambridge, 
269 

'British  Critic,'  i.  125,  229 

*  British  Magazine,'  i.  64 

British  Museum,  Bishop  Wilber- 
force   a  trustee  of,  iii.  174,  300, 

319,  344,  378,409,413 

Brougham,  Lord,  i.  40,  370  ;  ii.  9, 
10,  29,  51  ;  conversations  with 
Bishop  Wilberforce,  52,  350,  408, 
409,  412,  423  ;  at  meeting  for 
Central  African  Mission,  449  ; 
letter  to,  from  S.  Wilberforce  on 
Education  Question,  i.  156 

Broughton  Castle,  ii.  282 

Browne,  Harold,  Bishop  of  Ely,  ii. 
377  ;  iii.  192 

Brownlow,  Lord,  iii.  183 

Bruce,  Sir  J.  Knight,  dissentient  in 
Gorham  judgment,  ii.  37 

Brummel,  Mr.,  ii.  410 

Brussels,  Confirmation  at,  iii.  135 

Buchan  Ness,  visit  to,  ii.  334 

Buckingham,  sermon  at,  ii.  418 


CAMBRIDGE 

Buckland,  F.,  visits  of,  to  Laving- 
ton,  iii.  150,  294,  295 

Buckingham,  Duke  of,  iii.  248 

BuUer,  Mr.,  ii.  9 

Bunsen,  Chevalier,  the  Bishop's 
friendship  for,  i.  142,  198,  200, 
202,  212,  398  ;  ii.  7,  29 

Butler,  Rev.  W.,  Canon  of  Wor- 
cester, work  of,  at  Wantage,  ii. 
8,  348  ;  letters  to,  on  Gorham 
case,  40  ;  on  character  of  Breton 
peasants,  124  ;  conversation  with 
Bishop  Wilberforce,  229  ;  men- 
tioned, 234  ;  letters  to,  on  Bath 
judgment,  328  ;  on  Mr.  Lowder's 
Mission,  341  ;  as  to  Cuddesdon 
College,  369,  372  ;  on  address 
of  confidence,  401  ;  on  Ritual, 
iii.  195  ;  on  leaving  See  of  Ox- 
ford, 307  ;  on  Sisterhoods,  323, 
324,  330 ;  on  Bishop  Wilber- 
force's action  as  to  Sisterhoods, 

iii-  Vol 

Burder,  Mr.,  i.  311 

Burgon,  Dean  of  Chichester,  ii.  367, 
423  ;  iii.  168,  169,  249,  250 

Burnaby,  Dr.,  Archbishop's  Vicar- 
General,  i.  507 

Burnham,  Confirmation  at,  iii.  46 

Burrows,  Rev.  H.  W.,  Curate  at 
Brighstone  and  Alverstoke,  i.  65, 
162 

—  Rev.  L.,  iii.  401,  427 

Burton  Agnes,  Archdeacon  Wilber- 
force's living,  ii.  261,  262 

—  Dr.,  examines  S.  Wilberforce 
for  Deacons  Orders,  i.  42,  92 

—  Park,  ii.  358,  447,  448 
Buxton,  Sir  C,  i.  65 


CACHEMAILLE,    Sark,    Con- 
firmation at,  iii.  364 
Cadogan,  Earl,  iii.  413 
Cairns,    Sir    H.,    afterwards    Earl 
Cairns,  iii.    124,    225,  293,  421; 
speech  in  House  of  Lords,  432 
Calthorpe,  Lord,  i.  loi,  263 
Calverton,  sermon  at,  ii.  418 
Cambridge,  Duchess  of,  iii.  2)11 

—  Duke  of,  ii.  280 

—  University  of,  Prince  Albert 
installed  as  Chancellor  of,  i. 
397  ;  honorary  degree  conferred 
on  Bishop  Wilberforce  at,  ii.  421  ; 


INDEX. 


453 


CAMPBELL 


CHIDDINGFOLD 


sermons  at,  ii.  378;  iii.  17; 
meeting  at,  for  Central  African 
Mission,  421,  422 

Campbell,  Mr.,  of  Islay,  iii.  381 

Campion,  Mr.,  ii.  357 

Canada  Reserves,  ii.  177,  178,  185; 
iii.  281 

Canning,  Viscount,  supports  Bi- 
shop Wilberforce's  resolution  on 
Industrial  Exhibition  of  1851,  ii. 
29  ;  death  of,  iii.  54 

Canterbury,  Archbishop  of  See 
Longley  ;  Sumner  ;  Tait 

Canterbury  Cathedral,  farewell 
service  to  Bishop  Mackenzie 
held    in,    ii.    445  ;     sermon    at, 

445 
Capetown,  Bishop  of     See   Gray, 

Bishop  Robert. 
Card  well.   Viscount,    ii.    271,  330, 

334  ;  iii.  100,  103 
Carey,  H.,  i.  102 

—  Mr.,  i,  112 

Carfax,  sermons  at,  iii.  35 

Carlisle,  Bishop  of  See  Goodwin  ; 
Percy ;  Villiers  ;  Waldegrave 

Carlisle,  Earl  of,  diary  of,  impres- 
sions of  S.  Wilberforce's  speech, 
i.  240  ;  on  Bishop  Wilberforce's 
sermons,  i.  268  ;  ii.  16  ;  break- 
fast with  Bishop  Wilberforce,  ii. 
7  ;  mentioned,  29  ;  visits  Cud- 
desdon,  422,  423 ;  visit  to,  at  Dub- 
lin, iii.  28  ;  extract  from  diary,  29 

Carlisle,  visit  to,  iii.  397 

Carlyle,  Mrs.,  conversation  with 
Bishop  Wilberforce,  iii.  64 

—  T.,  conversations  with  Bishop 
Wilberforce,  i.  142,  212,  399, 
400  ;  ii.  226  ;  iii.  8,  64  ;  '  Life 
of  Cromwell,'  by,  i.  360  ;  saying 
of,  iii.  426 

Carnarvon,  Earl  of,  iii.  220,  225, 
291,  401,  403,  430 

Carter,  Rev.  T.  T.,  ii.  167,  249  ; 
conducts  Retreat  at  Cuddesdon, 
446  ;  letter  to,  on  Confraternity 
of  Blessed  Sacrament,  iii.  70 ; 
conversation  with  Bishop  Wil- 
berforce, 180  ;  Clewcr  commu- 
nity under,  324  ;  letter  to,  re- 
specting Clcwer,  328 ;  sermon 
of,  382 

Carus,  Mr.,  i.  102 

Castlereagh,  Viscount,  ii.  411 


Catechising  in  France,  ii.  289 
Cathedral  Commission,  ii.  280,  281, 

284 
Cavendish,  Lady  F.,  iii.  376 

—  Lord  F.,  iii.  376 

—  Lord  R.,  letters  to,  on  Bennett 
case,  ii.  125  ;  on  R.  Wil- 
berforce's secession,  249,  261, 
264  ;  on  H.  Wilberforce's  death, 
308  ;  on  R.  Wilberforce's  death, 
338,  348  ;  on  difficulty  of  Bishops 
not  being  one-sided,  425 ;  on 
Lord  Aberdeen's  funeral,  465 ;  on 
Colenso  case,  iii.  126 

Caversham,    Confirmations  at,   iii. 

133,  222 
Cazenove,  Mr.  Philip,  iii.  49,  275, 

276,  338,  343 
Central  African    Mission,   ii.    414, 

421,422,449,460;  iii.  52 
Chambers,    Sir   T.,   motion   of,  on 

Athanasian  Creed,  iii.  3S9 
Chanctonbury    Ring,    planted    by 

Mr.  Goring,  ii.  266 
Chandler,  Dr.,  Dean  of  Chichester, 

i.  238,  428 
Channel   Islands,  visit  to,  iii.  353- 

365 
Chapel  Royal,  sermons  at,  ii.  283  ; 

iii.  17,  160,  379 
Charges,  1840  :   i.    161,    163,    166  ; 

1842,1843,  1844,1845:286,287; 

i860:  ii.436,  437,460,463  ;  1863: 

"J-  93~97  ;  1866  :  199-203  ;  1869: 

312-314  ;  1870:  364 
Checkendon,  Curacy  of,  i.  41,  42, 

43,  46,  48,  49  ;  visits  to,  iii.  133, 

302 
Cheddington,  sermon  at,   ii.   310  ; 

418 
Chelmsford,  Lord,  i.  283  ;  ii.   142, 

316  ;  iii.  53,  145,198,  242,  264 
Chelsea,  sermon  at,  i.  84 
Cheney,  Mr.,  iii.  57 
Chesham,  Lord,  iii.  422 

—  Waterside,  sermon  at,  iii.  311 
Chester,    Bishop  of.     See  Graham, 

Jacobson 
Chichester,  Bishop  of.    See  Durn- 
ford,  R.  ;  A.  T.  Gilbert 

—  Earl  of,  letter  to,  i.  293 

—  Cathedral  of,    fall   of  spire,  iii. 

235 
• —  sermons  at,  i.  62  ;   iii.  236 
Chiddingfold,  iii.  427,  428 


454 


INDEX, 


CHIPPING 

Chipping  Norton,   Mission   at,  iii. 

231  ;  Confirmation  at,  221 
Chiselhurst,  visit  to,  sermon  at,  iii. 

138 
Cholmondeley,  Lord  H.,  i.  241 
'  Christian  Year,'  ii.  242 
Christmas,  Rev.  W.,  ii.  28,  29 
Church  Hill,    Confirmation  at,   iii. 

221 
Churchill,  Lady,  iii.  411 
Church  Missionary  Society,  i.  128, 

159,  293;  ii.   195,  224,  248;  iii. 

406,  407 
Church  rates,  ii.  272,  273,  285,  381, 

382  ;  iii.  242 
'  Church  and  State  Review,'  article 

on  Bishop  Mackenzie  in,  iii.  57 
Church,  Dean  of  St.  Paul's,  iii.  401 
Clandeboye,  visit  to,  iii.  24 
Clapham,  Confirmation  at,  iii.  341  ; 

last  sermon  at,  42 1 
Claremont,  visit  to,  i.  219,  223,  224, 

342 
Clarendon,  Earl  of,  ii.  178,  186,  333, 

346  ;  conversation  with,  iii.  234, 

235 

Clarke,  Dr.  A.,  iii.  413 

Clarkson,  Thomas,  i.  136 

Claughton,  T.  L.,  Bishop  of  Ro- 
chester, ii.  421  ;  iii.  255,  284, 
288,  302,  303,  370,  375,  381,  383, 
401,  409,  426,  430 

—  Hon.  ^Irs.,  iii.  255,  303 

—  Miss,  iii.  381,383 

Clergy  discipline,  ii.  316,  351, 
356    . 

—  Resignation  Bill,  iii.  339,  340 
Clerke,  Archdeacon,  i.  313;  ii.  26 
Cleveland,  Duchess  of,  iii.  378 

—  Duke  of,  iii.  410 

Clewer,  House  of  Mercy  at,  ii.  167, 
279,  381  ;  Confirmation  at,  iii. 
180,  322,  324,  332  ;  letter  to  Su- 
perior and  Sisters  of,  iii.  329 

Clifton,  Canon,  ii.  347 

Close,  Dean,  ii.  409 

—  Mrs.,  ii.  409 
Clutton,  iii.  409 

Cobden,  Mr.,  conversation  with,  ii. 

286,  319,  320,348 
Cockburn,  Dean,  i.  240 
Codant,  Abbd,  ii.  292 
Cole,  Rev.  Mr.,  i.  285 
Colenso,  Dr.,  afterwards  Bishop  of 
/  Natal,  i.  147;  iii.  i  ;   case  of,  112- 


CONVOCATION 

129  ;  Pan-Anglican  Synod  as  to, 
229-231 
Coleridge,  Edward,  i.  203 

—  H.  N.,  i.  120 

—  Lord,  in  Boyne   Hill  case,    ii. 

399 

—  Sir  J.,  i.  203,  507  ;  ii.  113,  421 
Colonial  Bishops'  Council,  ii.  378- 

386  ;  iii.  138,  145,  343 

Colonsay,  Lord,  iii.  401 

Commission  See  Cathedral ;  Ec- 
clesiastical ;  Ritual 

Conference.  See  Pan  -  Anglican 
Conference 

—  of  Clergy  at  Oxford,  iii.  149 
at  Reading,  iii.  154 

—  Educational,  ii.  342 
Confession,  ii.  76-79,  83-86,  386, 

389  ;  iii.  324-327,  331,  418-420 
Confirmation.     See   Bow   Church; 

Wilberforce,  Bishop 
Congress,  Church,    at  Dublin,  iii. 

261-263 
Leeds,    iii.   232  ;     Bishop 

Wilberforce's      description     of, 

398-400 

Liverpool,  iii.  310,  311 

0.xford,   iii.    51,    52,  332, 

336 

Wolverhampton,  m.  232 

Connor,  Rev.  G.,  Dean  of  Windsor, 
iii.  369,  387,  416 

Consort,  H.R.H.  Prince,  death  of, 
iii.  41, 42-45.     See  Albert,  Prince 

Convocation  of  Canterbury,  Arch- 
deacon S.  Wilberforce,  sermon 
before,  i.  198  ;  rights  of,  alluded 
to,  231  ;  revival  of,  alluded  to, 
ii.  125,  183,  187;  efforts  for  re- 
vival of,  136-140  ;  election  of 
Prolocutor  for,  141,  142  ;  cor- 
respondence of  Bishop  Wilber- 
force with  Mr.  Gladstone  respect- 
ing, 143-146,  439-442;  article 
in  '  Times  '  respecting,  147, 
148;  formal  meetings  of,  153, 
1 54, 1 5  5  j  Lord  Aberdeen's  views 
on,  160-163  ;  correspondence  of 
Bishop  Wilberforce  and  Hon. 
A.  Gordon,  164-167,  168,  170, 
172  ;  meeting  of,  176;  report 
of  Committee  of,  189  ;  conver- 
sation of  Lord  Aberdeen  respect- 
ing, 229,  230  ;  meetings  of 
Committees   of,  232,  233,    285  ; 


INDEX. 


455 


CONVOCATION 

lengthened  sittings  of,  pressed 
by  Archbishop  of  Canterbury, 
267-269  ;  by  Prolocutor,  270  ; 
Committee  of,  on  Church  rates, 
272 ;  sitting  of,  280 ;  break- 
fasts during  session  of,  376, 
377  ;  four  days'  session  of, 
437,  438  ;  licence  for  transaction 
of  business  by,  442  ;  Committee 
•of,  on  Missionary  Bishops,  443; 
debates  in,  on '  Essays  and  Re- 
views,' iii.  9-1 1,  22,  140  ;  on 
Court  of  Appeal,  112  ;  on  Ritual, 
204,  207  ;  on  Sisterhoods,  335  ; 
on  revision  of  New  Testament, 
J46,  347,350;  on  Westminster 
scandal,  351,  352;  liberty  of 
practical  legislation  restored  to, 
391  ;  debate  on  Athanasian 
Creed  in,  391,  392  ;  meeting  of, 
413;  declaration  on  Confession 
in,  418 ;  speech  of  Bishop  of 
London  in,  432.  See  Oxford 
Convocation  of  Canterbury, 
speeches  by  Bishop  Wilberforce 
in  : 
On  address  to  Crown,  ii.  137 

—  Canon  29,  ii.  437 

—  Central  African  mission,  ii.  443 

—  Clergy  discipline,  ii.  154 

—  Court  of  Appeal,  iii.  112 

—  '  Essays  and  Reviews,'  iii.  9 

—  Missionary  bishops,  iii.  17 

—  Revision  of  New  Testament, 

iii-  347 

—  Westminster  scandal,  iii.  351 
Cookham    Dean,  Confirmation  at, 

iii.  296 
Copeland,  Mr.,  i.  326 
Coplestone,  Bishop  of  Llandaff,  i.  26 
Cork,  Dean  of.    See  Magee,  Bishop 
Corn  Laws,  i.  197,  321,  363,  366-368 
Cornish,  Mr.,  i.  198 
Corven,  sermon  at,  iii.  59 
Council.     Sec  Privy  Council 
Court.     See  Appeal ;  Arches  ;  De- 
legates ;  Queen's  Bench 
Courtenay,  Mr.,  iii.  377 
Cousin,  Victor,  ii.  293 
Coiitances,  visit  to,  iii.  361 
Coutts,  Baroness  Ikirdett,  ii.  336  ; 

iii.  272 
Cowan,  Dr.,  letter  to,  in  answer  to 

Reading  Address,  ii.  44 
Cowell,  Sir  J.,  iii.  393 


DENISON 


Cowley,  Lady,  iii.  402-404 
Cowley,  Lord,  iii,  134,  402,  404 
Coworth,  sermon  at,  iii.  301 
Crawley,  sermon  at,  ii.  418 
Craven,  Countess  of,  ii.  244 
Craufurd,    Mr.,  speech   at  British 

Association  at  O.xford,  ii.  450 
Creed,  Athanasian,  386,    389-393, 

401 
Crimea,  i.  393  ;  ii.  270,  271,  304 
Croker,  Right   Hon.  J.  W.,  i.  173, 

206,  273,317 
Croly,  Dr.,  i.  1 19 
Cruickshank,  Robert,  i.  171 
Cuddesdon  Church,  sermons  at,  ii. 

157  ;  iii.  178,  246 

—  College,  opened,  ii.  244,  246  ; 
attack  on,  359-373  ;  festivals  of, 
iii.  130,  164 

Retreats  at,  ii.  447  ;  iii.  55-57  ; 
work  of,  iii.  74 

—  Palace  of,  first  visit  to,  i.  309  ; 
Rural  Deans  received  at,  342  ; 
chapel  built,  376  ;  Christmas  at, 
ii.  6,  157  ;  loneliness  of,  iii,  18  ; 
inspectors  at,  48;  parties  at,  175, 
246  ;  chapel  of,  408 

Culham   Training    College,   ii,   3, 

187  ;  iii.  267 
Culverton,  Confirmation  at,  ii.  179 
Cunningham,  Rev.  Mr.,  i.  114 
Currie,  Rev.  J.,  iii.  174 
Curzon  Chapel,  sermon  at,  ii.  319 

—  Hon.  R.,  iii.  49.  See  Lord 
Zouche 

Cust,  Rev,  A.  P.,  Dean  of  York,  ii. 
446 ;  iii.  35,  203,  338,  388,  426, 
430  ;  letter  to,  on  '  standing  be- 
fore the  Table,'  299 


DALE,  Rev.  Mr.,  i.  84 
Dallas,  Rev.  Dr.,  i.  63  ;  letter 
to,  ii.  65 

Danny,  ii.  357  ;  iii.  226 

Darwin,  Mr.,    theory  condemned, 
ii.  450 

D'Aumale,  Due,  ii.  318 

Dealtry,  Dr.,  i.  65,  71,  150 

Debating  Society,  Oxford,  i.  27 

De  Grey,  Lord,  iii.  373 

Delane,  Mr.,  iii.  227 

Delegates,  Court  of,  i.  231  ;  ii.37,  38 

Denison,  Archdeacon,  signs  peti- 
tion to  Convocation,  ii,  147  ;  case 


456  INDEX. 

DENISON 

of  Ditcher  v.,  234-240,  320-328, 

330;    opposes    Mr.    Gladstone's 

election,  iii.  161 
Denison,  Lady  C,  iii.  36 
Right  Hon.  J.  E.,  Speaker  of 

House  of  Commons,  ii.  271  ;  iii. 

36,  37i  92,  397-    -''''''  Ossington 

—  E.,  Bishop  of  Salisbury,  letters 
of,  ii.  58,  98  ;  death  of,  233,  244 

—  E.,  iii.  175,  176 
Denman,    Hon.    R.,   ii.    224,    358, 

447  ;  iii.  401,  402,  430 
-_  Lord,  i.  370,  507 

—  Hon.  Mrs.,  iii.  294,  366 
Derby,  Earl  of,  election  of, as  Chan- 
cellor of  Oxford,  ii.  148,  151,  152; 
on  Canada  reserves,  177,  178  ; 
attacks  Bishop  Wilberforce,  1S5, 
186,  187  ;  Government  of,  272, 
333;  iii.  182;  on  Church  rates,  28  5  ; 
on  Divorce  Bill,  343  ;  on  Special 
Services  Bill,  374  ;  Lord  Aber- 
deen on,  409;  Latin  speech  by,  iii. 
90  ;  on  Court  of  Appeal,  1 1 1  ;  visit 
to,  172,  173  ;  on  Ritual  legisla- 
tion, 210,  212  ;  Lord  Clarendon 
on,  235  ;  conversations  with 
Bishop  Wilberforce,  238,  264  ; 
resignation  of,  274 

—  sermon  at,  to  working  men,  iii. 
16,  32 

Derry,  Bishop  of.     Sec  Alexander 

—  sermon  at,  iii.  263 
Desart,     Earl     of,     signs    protest 

against  Divorce  Bill,  ii.  345 
De  Tocqueville,  ii.  330 
Deverili,  Mr.,  i.  65 
De  Vesci,  Lord,  iii.  422 
Devon,  Earl  of,  i.  148 
Devonport,  sermon  at,  i.  146 

—  Sisterhood  at,  iii.  322 
Dickens,  Charles,  attacks  manage- 
ment of  Literary    Fund,  ii.  339, 
340 

Dickinson,  I\Ir.  C,  i.  119  ;  ii.  423 
Dilapidations  Bill,  iii.  y]2, 
Diocesan  Conferences,  opinion  on, 

iii.  376 

Disestablishment.  Sec  Irish  Church 

Dispensation,  power  of,  ii.  87 

Disraeli,  Right  Hon.  B.    [See  Bea- 

consfield,  Lord.)  ii.  380;  speeches 

of^at  Aylesbury,  35  ;  at  Oxford, 

154  ;  at  Wycombe,  iii.  70 ;  moves 

votes  of  want  of  confidence,  138 ; 


EAST 

rise  of,  227  ;  account  of,  233,  242; 
Government  of,  241  ;  letter  of,  on 
Irish  Church,  245  ;  correspon- 
dence with  Bishop  Wilberforce 
on  elections  of  1868,  260,  266; 
conduct  of,  to  Bishop  Wilberforce, 
268,  269, 344;  policy  of,  as  to  Irish 
Church,  274,  279  ;  at  Grillion's 
Club,  410 
Ditcher,  Rev.  Joseph,  case  v.  Arch- 
deacon Denison,  ii.  234,  235, 
320 
Divorce  Bill,  ii.  318,  339,  344,  346  ; 

iii.  282 
Dodson,  Sir  John,  Dean  of  Arches, 

i,  507  ;  ii.  138 
Dodsworth,  Rev.  Mr.,  at  Margaret 
Street  Chapel,  i.  102,  103  ;  issues 
pamphlet    against    Dr.    Pusey's 
adapted  books,  ii.  71 
Dollinger,  Dr.,  conversation  with, 

at  Munich,  ii.  224 
Dollman,  Mr.,  i.  65 
Dorking,   Church  opening  at,   iii. 

344  ;  Mission  at,  394 
Drayton  Manor,  visit  to,  i.  514 
Drummond,  H.,  ii.  271,  316 
Drury,  Rev.  C,  ii.  244 
Dublin,    Church    Congress  at,  iii. 
261-263  ;  visit  to,  iii.  27  ;  meeting 
and  sermon  at,  28 
Du  Cane,  Captain,  i.  iii 
Duncannon,  Viscount,  ii.  414 
Duncombe,  Sir  P.  and  Lady,  kind- 
ness of,  iii.  48 
—   Hon.   and    Rev.   A.,   Dean   of 

York,  iii.  172 
Duncton  Church,  sermon  at,  ii.  448 
Dundas,  Right  Hon.  Sir  David,  ir. 

320,  346 
Dunstan's,  St.,  in  the  West,  hving 
of,  offered  to   S.  Wilberforce,   i. 
71,72 
Durham,  Bishop  of.     Sec   Baring-, 
Bp.  ;    Longley,    C.  T.  ;   Villiers, 
Hon.  H.  M. 
Durham,  Earl  of,  ii.  414 
Durnford,  Bishop  of  Chichester,  ii. 
409  ;  iii.  401,  409,  410,  430 


EARLEY,  Confirmation  at,  iii. 
179 
East  Farleigh,  vicarage    of,  i.  63 
(iiote\  75,  86,  222,  287,  362,  401 


INDEX. 


457 


EASTERN 

Eastern  Church,  the,  iii.  248 
Ebury,  Lord,  ii.  439,  442,  448  ;  iii. 

49    .      . 
Ecclesiastical   Commission,  ii.   11, 

32,  228  ;  iii.  23,  90,  176,  215,  219, 

300 

—  Court.     See  Arches,  Court  of 

—  Courts  and  Registries  Bill  (Ire- 
land), ii.  456,  457  ;  iii.  103 

—  Titles  Bill,  ii.  117,  118 

Eden,  R.,  Bishop  of  Moray,  Ross, 
and  Caithness,  iii.  302 

—  Miss,  ii.  317 

Edinburgh,  Duke  of,  iii.  403,  404. 
See  Alfred,  Prince 

—  sermon  at,  iii.  68 
Educational  Conference,  ii.  342 
Egerton,  Captain,  iii.  376 

—  Lady  L.,  iii.  376 

—  Sir  P.,  iii.  410 
Elcho,  Lord,  ii.  271 
Eldon,  Lord,  i.  26,  31 
Ellenborough,  Earl  of,  ii.  249 
Ellesmere,  Earl  of,  ii.  314 
Ellice,  Mrs.,  ii.  52 

—  Right  Hon.  E.,  ii.  52,  411  ;  iii. 
383,  384,  385 

Ellicott,  Bishop  of  Gloucester  and 
Bristol,  iii.  192,  209,  210,  216, 
284-288,  378,  391,  392,  399 

Elliott,  Dean  of  Bristol,  ii.  171, 
230,  231,  233,  276,  319 

—  Rev.  C.  J.,  letter  to,  on  '  standing 
before  the  Table.'  iii.  298 

—  Miss  M.,  letter  to,  on  '  Rule  of 
Faith,'  i.  214 

Ellison,  Rev.  Canon,  iii.  57 
Elsdale,  Rev.  Mr.,  iii.  247 
Elson,  sermon  at,  iii.  344 

—  statutes  of,  iii.  366 

Ely,  Bishop  of.  See  Browne, 
Harold  ;  Turton,  T.  ;  Wood- 
ford, J.  R. 

—  Dean  of.  See  Goodwin,  Dr. 
Harvey 

Emerson,  Mr.,  ii.  9 
Enfield,  Lady,  iii.  376 
Englefield,  Confirmation  at,  iii.  iSo 
- —  House,  visit  to,  iii.  180 
English  Church  Union,  the,  iii.  207 
Erie,  Sir  W.,  Right  Hon.,  i.  507  ; 

iii.  401 
Erskine,  Lord,  i.  119,  120 
'Essays and  Reviews,'  iii.  i-ii,  89, 

III,  121,  133,  140,  149 


Eton  College,  Confirmations  at,  i. 
393  ;  ii.  5,  241 

—  parish,  iii.  297 

'  Eucharistica,'  by  Bishop  Wilber- 

force,  i.  140,  149,  155 
Everett,  Mr.,  i.  239 
Eversley,  Viscount,  iii.  378,  381 
Ewelme,  rectory  of,  i.  447,  472,  473 
Exeter,  Bishop  of.  See  Phillpotts,  H. ; 

Temple,  F. 

—  Cathedral,  Confirmation  at,  ii. 
421  ;  sermons  at,  421 


FACTORY  BILL,  speech  on,  i. 
389>  390 

Fairbairn,  Sir  T.,  ii.  349 

Falaise,  visit  to,  iii.  361 

Farley,  Rev.  Dr.,  letter  to,  on  voting; 
for  Mr.  Gladstone,  ii.  160 

Farnham,  sermon  at,  i.  73  ;  Con- 
firmation at,  ii.  418 

--  Castle,  i.  52,  68,  T^y,  9i>  93>  io7, 
138,  154,  202,  281,  293  ;  iii.  71, 
372,  380,  409 

Farquhar,  Sir  Walter,  ii.  281,  423 

Farrer,  Mr.,  iii.  424,  426 

Farringdon,  Mission  at,  ii.  30 

Fasque,    church    consecrated     at, 

i-  395 
Fendall  v.  Wilson,  case  of,  iii.  6, 

8,9 

Field,  Bishop  of  Newfoundland,  i. 
376;  ii.  179 

Fielding,  Copley,  i.  154 

Forbes,  Mr.,  i.  239 

Forster,  Right  Hon,  W.,  ii.  349  ;. 
conversation  with,  iii.  396 

Fortescue,  Right  Hon.  C,  Lord 
Carlingford,  iii.  373 

Fosbery,  Rev.  T.  V.,  ii.  423  ;  iii. 
297 ;  letters  to,  on '  Rocky  Island,' 
i.  216  ;  on  Channel  Islands  Visi- 
tation, iii.  364 

Fraser,  Bishop  of  Manchester,  iii. 
399,  400 

Fremantle,  Rev.  W.  R.,  letters  to, 
ii-  59,  yi^  ;  o"  Ritual,  iii.  195 

—  Sir  T.,  ii.  423  ;  iii.  410 
French,  Emperor  of  the,  ii.  283,  284^ 

294,414  ;  iii.  91,  134,  234 

—  Empress  of  the,  ii.  283,  284  ;  iii. 

134 
Frere,  Sir  Bartle,  iii.  386 

—  Rev.  Temple,  i.  270,  271 


458  INDEX. 

FRINGFORD 

Fringford,  Confirmation  at,  iii.  133 
Froude,  Richard  Hurrell,  i.  27,  68, 
112 

—  Archdeacon,  i.  146 

—  Robert  Hurrell,  i.  27 
Fulford,  Most  Rev.  Francis,  Bishop 

of  Montreal,  iii.  89,  230 
Fust,  Sir  H.  J.,  Uean  of  Arches,  i. 
445,451,458.493;  ii-  2>1,  38,  52 


GAMBIER,  Captain,  i.  99 
Garbett,    Archdeacon,    con- 
test of,  for  Poetry  Professorship, 
i.  193,  194,  204,  207,  210 
Garnier,  Dean  of  Winchester,  death 

of,  iii.  416 
Garsington,    Confirmation    at,   iii. 

Garter,  Order  of  the.  Bishop  Wil- 
berforce  invested  as  Chancellor 
of,  i.  342  ;  Chapter  of,  ii.  279, 
283,  284  ;  Prelacy  of,  306 

George  IV.,  his  Majesty  King,  Lord 
Aberdeen  on,  ii.  332,  411  ;  anec- 
dote of,  iii.  147 

Gibbs,  Mr.,  iii.  402 

Gibraltar,  Bishop  of.     See  Harris 

Gilbert,  Bishop  of  Chichester,  i. 
425  ;  ii.  386,  441,  448 

Gisborne,  Guy,  ii.  13 

Gladstone,  Right  Hon.  W.  E., 
conversation  with  S.  Wilber- 
force,  i.  116,  187,  203,  204  ;  letter 
of  S.  Wilberforce  to,  133  ;  answer 
of,  134  ;  book  of,  on  '  Church  and 
State,'  1 34  ;  correspondence  with 
Archdeacon  S.  Wilberforce  as  to 
Poetry  Professorship,  207-211  ; 
as  to  censure  of  Mr.  Ward, 
249-258;  resignation  of,  261; 
correspondence  with  Dean  Wil- 
berforce as  to  Irish  Church, 
271-273  ;  with  Bishop  Wilber- 
force as  to  '  Theory  of  Develop- 
ment,' 327-329  ;  letter  as  to  Dr. 
Hampden,  432 ;  letter  to,  con- 
cerning Archdeacon  Manning, 
ii.  46-49  ;  correspondence  with 
Bishop  Wilberforce  as  to  Episco- 
pate, 125-133;  conversation  at 
Cuddesdon  as  to  Gorham  case, 
134-136  ;  correspondence  with 
Bishop  Wilberforce  as  to  Con- 
vocation,    143-146,     295,      296, 


GLADSTONE 

439-442  ;  consults  as  to  Chan- 
cellorship of  University,  151  ; 
contests  Oxford  University, 
158-160,  161;  defends  Bishop 
Wilberforce,  180;  correspond- 
ence with,  as  to  Colonial  Church 
Bill,  190-194;  as  to  Professor 
Maurice,  215,  216;  as  to  Arch- 
deacon Wilberforce,  265  ;  con- 
versation of,  w^ith  13ishop  Wil- 
berforce, as  to  Church  rates, 
272  ;  resignation  of,  280,  281, 
282  ;  conversation  as  to  Church 
and  politics,  283  ;  Lord  Aber- 
deen's opinion  of,  286,  412,  414  ; 
on  Supreme  Court  of  Appeal, 
288;  iii.  102-110;  letter  of,  on 
death  of  H.  Wilberforce,  ii.  308  ; 
correspondence  with  Bishop  Wil- 
berforce as  to  Denison's  case, 
321-326, 328 ;  conversations  with, 
335  ;  iii.  92,  242,  367  ;  speech 
at  Oxford,  ii.  342  ;  letter  to,  on 
Divorce  Bill,  345,  349,  383,  384  ; 
correspondence  with,  on  Court 
of  Appeal,  351-354;  letter  as  to 
Cuddesdon  College, 364;  receives 
degree  of  LL.D.,  421  ;  as  to 
Ecclesiastical  Courts  and  Regis- 
tries (Ireland)  Bill,  456,  457  ;  as 
to  Conscience  Clause,  458-460 ; 
attends  Lord  Aberdeen's  funeral, 
465  ;  letter  to,  on  Mrs.  Sargent's 
death,  iii,  18 ;  correspondence 
with,  on  Oxford  election,  20,  21, 
161- 164  ;  on  Sir  J.  Graham's 
death,  21,  22 ;  on  Missionary 
Bishops  Bill,  yj  ;  on  Bishopric 
of  Honolulu,  38-40 ;  on  Arch- 
bishoprics, 62,  63  ;  as  to  Had- 
field's  Bill,  79-85  ;  letter  to,  on 
vote  of  want  of  confidence,  139; 
leader  of  House  of  Commons,  181; 
Reform  Bill  of,  181,  182;  corre- 
spondence with,  on  proposed 
Ritual  legislation,  194,  208,  209  ; 
action  of,  as  to  Irish  Church,  241, 
275,  277-280  ;  visit  of,  to  Laving- 
ton,  256  ;  at  Hatfield,  271,  272  ; 
first  speech  as  Premier,  295  ;  offers 
See  of  Winchester  to  Bishop 
Wilberforce,  304,  307  ;  letter  to, 
on  Lord  High  Almonership,  306  ; 
on  address  of  Oxford  Clergy, 
316,  317  ;  appoints  Dr.   Temple 


INDEX, 


459 


GLADSTONE 


GRAY 


to  See  of  Exeter,  319  ;  corre- 
spondence with,  on  Clergy  Resig- 
nation Bill,  340-342  ;  correspond- 
ence with,  on  Irish  Land  Bill, 
345,  346  ;  on  revision  of  the  New 
Testament,  348,  350 ;  letter  on, 
to  Lord  Shaftesbury,  348  ;  corre- 
sponce  with,  on  M.  Guizot  and 
state  of  France,  355,  356  ;  con- 
versation with,  372,  380 ;  on 
Athanasian  Creed,  386-389  ;  at 
Academy  dinner,  396 ;  at  Ha- 
warden,  398 ;  on  full  age  of 
Premier,  413  ;  correspondence 
with,  on  Court  of  Appeal,  417, 
418  ;  sorrow  of,  at  Bishop  Wil- 
berforce's  death,  425,  427;  tri- 
bute of,  to  his  memory,  433-436 
Gladstone,  Sir  John,  builds  church 
at  Fasque,  i.  395 

—  Mrs.,  i.  396  ;  ii.  381  ;  iii.  14,  175 

—  Mr.  Robertson,  iii.  259 
Glengarry  scandal,  iii.  383-388 
Gloucester  and  Bristol,  Bishop  of. 

See  Baring,  C.  ;  EUicott,  C.  J.  ; 

Monk,  J.  H. 
Gloucester   Cathedral,  sermon  at, 

ii.  421 
Glynne,  Rev.  H.,  iii.  398 

—  Sir  S.,  ii.  335,  383  ;  iii.  256, 
398,  401 

Godley,  Mr.,  iii.  413 

'  Good  Words,'  articles  in,  iii.  295, 

29S,  300,  303,  311,  319 
Golightly,  Rev.  C.  P.,  attacks  Cud- 

desdon     College,    ii.     358-366  ; 

pamphlet  of,  415 
Goodwin,    Harvey,    Dean   of  Ely, 

Bishop  of  Carlisle,  ii.   378  ;  iii. 

214,  240,  285  288,  401 
Gordon  Castle,  visits  to,  ii.  335  ;  iii. 

303 

sermon  at,  iii.  303 

Gordon,  Hon.  Sir  A.,  letter  to,  on 
Lord  Aberdeen's  appointment  to 
Premiership,  ii.  156;  private 
secretary  to  Lord  Aberdeen,  1 58  ; 
letter  from,  on  Convocation, 
160,  161  ;  correspondence  on 
Convocation  with  Bishop  Wilber- 
force,  164,  165,  166,  168,  170, 171, 
172,  174,  229,  230,  231,  267,  269  ; 
recollection  of  Bishop  Wilber- 
force,  185  ;  correspondence  on 
Colonial  Church  Bill,    188,  189, 


194;  correspondence  on  Deni- 
son  case,  236,  237  ;  on  Scotch 
Clergy,  243  ;  letter  to,  251  ;  on 
loss  of  Court  influence,  273,  274, 
275  ;  visit  to  Cuddesdon,  311  ; 
with  Bishop  Wilberforce,  332, 
?)2>'hi  334  ;  on  Gladstone's  speech, 
342  ;  letter  to,  376 ;  on  Boyne 
Hill  case,  396;  letter  to,  421  ; 
extract  from  letter  to,  428  ;  letters 
to,  on  Lord  Aberdeen's  death, 
463-465  ;  on  Prince  Consort's 
funeral,  iii.  43  ;  on  Kinglake's 
book,  91  ;  home  news,  99  ;  state 
of  politics,  158;  on  Reform  Bill 
of  1866,  182  ;  party  at  Chevening, 
227  ;  on  events  of  1867,  236  ;  on 
Diocese  of  Winchester,  338,  353  ; 
goes  with  Bishop  Wilberforce  to 
M.  Guizot's,  353  ;  letter  to,  on 
Lord  Aberdeen's  letters,  369 ; 
letter  to,  from  C.  Kingsley,  370 ;  at 
Bishop  Wilberforce's  funeral,  430 

Gordon,  Rev.  Canon,  iii.  310  ;  letter 
to,on  resigning  Seeof  Oxford,  310 

Gore,  Mr.,  ii.  383 

Gorham,   Rev.   J.    C,  case   of,   ii. 

35-44 
Goring,  Mr.,  ii.  266 

—  Rev.  J.,  ii.  448 

Goulburn,  Rev.  E.  AL,  Dean  of 
Norwich,  i.  242,  311,  480 

Graffham  Church,  ii.  242  ;  sermons 
at,  iii.  371,  412 

Graham,  Bishop  of  Chester,  i.  508  ; 
visit  to,  ii.  384 

—  Right  Hon.  Sir  J.,  i.  264  ;  ii.  4, 
5,  272  ;  iii.  21,  22 

Grantham,  speech  at,   to  working 

men,  iii.  90 
Granville,  Countess,  i.  268 

—  Earl,  ii.  43  ;  iii.  423  ;  letter  from, 
424,  425,  427,  430 

Gray,  Robert,  Bishop  of  Capetown, 
i.  395  ;  ii.  377  ;  speech  at  meeting 
of  Colonial  Bishops,  378,  379 ; 
in  retreat  at  Cuddesdon,  iii.  56  ; 
action  of,  as  to  Dr.  Colenso, 
1 1 3-1 29;  correspondence  with 
Bishop  Wilberforce  respecting, 
114,  115,  121,  122,  123,  124,  125, 
126  ;  at  Pan- Anglican  Synod, 
230,  231  ;  ]5ishop  Wilberforce's 
tribute  to,  232  ;  letter  to,  on 
Bishop  Hamilton's  death,  301 


460 


INDEX. 


GRAY 


HARRISON 


Gray,  case  of  Long  z/.,  iii.  113,  121 

—  Bishop  of  Gloucester,  father  of 
Bishop  of  Capetown,  i.  85 

Greene,  Rev.  Mr.,  iii.  379 
Gregory,  Mr.,  M.P.,  iii.  371 

—  Rev.  Canon,  iii.  214,  240 
Grenville,  Lord,  Chancellor  of  Uni- 
versity of  Oxford,  i.  26 

Gresley,  Rev.  W.,  correspondence 
of,  with  Bishop  Wilberforce  on 
Confession,  ii.  3S6-391,  396,  397 

Grey,  Sir  George,  ii.  422 

—  Right  Hon.  Sir  G.,  i.  187,  241  ; 
ii.  244,  421 

Greys    (Rotherfield),    Confirmation 

at,  iii.  222 
Grillion's  Club,  breakfasts  at,  ii.  7, 

271,  316,  414  ;  iii.  121,  396,  409; 

dinner  at,  410 
'  Guardian'  newspaper,  ii.  30,  417  ; 

iii.  135,  153,  243 
Guernsey,  Confirmations  in,  iii.  362, 

1>^Z,  364 

—  Ordination  in,  iii.  362,  364 

—  sermons  in,  iii.  363,  364 
Guiana,  Bishop  of,  iii.  369 
Guille,  Rev.  C.  S .,  death  of,  iii.  362 
Guizot,  M.,  visit  of,  to  Cuddesdon, 

ii.  12  ;  conversation  of,  ii.  293  ;  iii. 

134  ;      admiration     of     Bishop 

Wilberforce's  preaching,  ii.  396  ; 

visit  to,  at  Val  Richer,  iii.  353-360 
Gull,  Sir  W.,  iii.  297,  378,411 
Gurney,  Mr.  Russell,  iii.  409 
Guy,  General  and  Mrs.,  entertain 

Bishop  Wilberforce,  iii.  362,  363, 

364 


HADDINGTON,  Earl  of,  ii. 
410 

Haddo,  ii.  330,  331,  410 

Hadfield,  Mr.,  Bill  for  doing  away 
with  Mayors'  declaration,  iii. 
76-85 

Hallam,  Mr.,  ii.  7 

Halifax,  Earl  of,  iii.  223 

Hamilton,  W.  K.,  Bishop  of  Salis- 
bury, i.  87,  116,  123;  Consecra- 
tion of,  ii.  244 ;  letter  to,  on  H. 
Wilberforce's  death,  306 ;  at 
Bishopstowe,  336 ;  against  Di- 
vorce Bill,  343  ;  illness  of,  375  ; 
appointment  of,  by  Lord  Aber- 
deen, 410;  on 'Essays  and  Re- 


views,' iii.  2-5 ;  case  of,  %>. 
Williams,  6-9  ;  sermon  by, 
34  ;  on  Hadfield's  Bill,  'j'j  ; 
letter  to,  on  royal  wedding  in 
Lent,  85 ;  on  Dr.  Colenso's 
case,  115,  116  ;  letter  to,  on  pro- 
posed Ritual  legislation,  205  ; 
death  of,  301 

Hampden,  Dr.,  Regius  Professor  of 
Moral  Philosophy,  of  Divinity, 
Bishop  of  Hereford,  nominated 
Regius  Professor  of  Divinity  at 
Oxford,  i.  91,  92  ;  Bampton  Lec- 
tures of,  92 ;  appointment  of, 
opposed,  93,  94  ;  made  Chair- 
man of  new  Theological  Board, 
218  ;  nominated  to  See  of 
Hereford,  417,  419  ;  nomination 
strongly  opposed,  420 ;  *  Ob- 
servations on  Religious  Dissent,' 
422-424 ;  censured  by  Uni- 
versity, 425  ;  correspondence 
of,  with  Archbishop  Howley, 
426  ;  continued  opposition  to 
appointment  of,  427-451  ;  letter 
of,  to  Lord  J.  Russell,  452,  453  ; 
correspondence  of,  with  Bishop 
W^ilberforce,  454-457,  460^-466  ; 
withdraws  pamphlet,  467 ;  let- 
ters of  request  against,  with- 
drawn, 470-482  ;  Confirmation 
of,  506,  507 ;  Consecration  of, 
508 ;  summary  of  case,  509- 
513;  on  'Essays  and  Reviews,' 
iii.  3-5  ;  sermon  by,  90 

Hampshire;    Confirmation  tour  in, 

iii.  374  . 

Hampshire  Diocesan  Society  in- 
augurated by  Bishop  Wilberforce, 

iii.  370 
Hanslope,  sermon  at,  ii.  418 
Harcourt,  Archbishop   of  York,  i. 

416,  417,  418 
—  Colonel,  ii.  452 
Hardy,  Right  Hon.  G.,  Lord  Cran- 

brook,  iii,  161,223,  246,  371,  401, 

416,417 
Harding,  Rev.  Mr.,  i.  102 
Hardinge,  Sir  H.,  i.  119 
Hare,    Archdeacon,    on    Hampden 

controversy,  i.  428 
Harris,  C,  Bishop  of  Gibraltar,  iii. 

340 
Harrison,  Archdeacon  of  Maidstone, 

ii-  377 


INDEX. 


461 


HARROWBY 


HOUSE 


Harrowby,  Earl  of,  ii.  12,  249 
Hastings,  speech  at,  for  Additional 
Curates'  Society,  iii.  150  ;  visit  to, 

371 
Hatfield,  visit  to,  iii.  271,  272,  373 
Haversham,  sermon  at,  ii.  418 
Havvarden  Castle,  visits  to,  ii.  335, 

336,349.383:  iii-  258,  398 
Hawkins,  Rev.  Ernest,  Secretary  of 

S.P.G.,   Canon  of   Westminster, 

i.  145,  148 

—  Rev.  Edward,  Provost  of 
Oriel,  Tutor  at  Oriel,  i.  26  ; 
Provost  of  Oriel,  41  ;  correspon- 
dence of,  with  Bishop  Wilber- 
force  as  to  Professor  Hampden, 
471-482  ;  statement  of,  in  the 
'  Times,'  respecting,  506 

Hawkshaw,  Sir  J.,  iii.  401 
Heath,  Mr.,  i.  154 
Keathcote,  Sir  William,  iii.  246 
Heber,   Mr.,  Member  for  Oxford, 

i.  26 
Helena,  H.R.H. Princess,  ii.  11 
Helps,  Right  Hon.  Sir  A.,  iii.  402 
Henley,  Right   Hon.  J.,  ii.  314;  iii. 

34,76 

—  sermons  at,  ii.  192  ;  iii.  268 
Herbert,    Hon.   Sidney,  afterwards 

Lord,  i.  396  ;  ii.  195,  196,  271, 
276  ;  resigns  office  in  Lord  Pal- 
merston's  Cabinet,  280  ;  boii  nioi 
of,  315  ;  Lord  Aberdeen  on,  330; 
Gladstone  on,  335  ;  illness  of, 
iii.  20,  22  ;  death  of,  23 
Hereford,  Bishop  of.  See  Atlay, 
Dr.  ;  Hampden,  R.  D. 

—  Cathedral,  sermons  at,  i.  448, 
iii.  90 

'  Heroes   of   Hebrew    History,'  by 

Bishop  Wilberforce,'  iii.  298 
Hibbert,  Mr.  J.,   Commissioner  in 

Boyne  Hill  case,  ii.  392 
Highwood  Hill,  i.  40  ;  thoughts  of, 

iii.  397 
Hills,  Bishop  of  British  Columbia, 

ii.  422 
Hitchin,  sermon  at,  ii.  422 
Hoare,  Archdeacon,  i.  7,  64,  11  r  ; 

—  Rev.  Canon,  pamphlet  of,  iii.  419 
— ■    Henry,   fellow    pupil   with    S. 

Wilberforce,  i.  5  ;  labours  of,  for 
Convocation,  ii.  154;  mentioned, 

384 
Hobhouse,  E.,  Bishop  of  Nelson, 


acts     as    Bishop    Wilberforce's 

almoner,  i.  354,  355 
Hodson,  Archdeacon,  tutor  to   S. 

Wilberforce,  i.  5,  198  ;  iii.  401 
Holford,  Mr.,  iii.  421 
Holland,  Lord,  ii.  333,  410 

—  Sir  H.,  iii.  373 
Hollycombe,  visit  to,  iii.  401 
Honolulu,  Bishop   of.     See  Staley, 

Bishop 

—  Bishopric  of,  iii.  38-40,  41 
Hook,  Dr.,  Vicar  of  Leeds,  Dean 

of  Chichester,  Vicar  of  Coven- 
try, i.  97 ;  departure  from, 
106  ;  proposes  e.\;change  of 
living  to  S.  Wilberforce,  114; 
sermon  of,  on  '  Hear  the  Church,' 
123,  124,  126  ;  Visitation 
sermon  of,  130,  131,  132 ; 
sermon  of,  at  Manchester,  156; 
pamphlet  of,  on  Jerusalem 
Bishopric,  195  ;  letter  of,  to 
Bishop  of  Ripon,  196,  197  ; 
church  of,  at  Leeds,  221,  222  ; 
letter  of,  on  education,  225  ;  let- 
ter of  S.  Wilberforce  to,  227  ; 
plan  of, for  schools,  379 ;  'Lives  of 
Archbishops  of  Canterbury,'  by, 
ii.  28,  iii.  259  ;  talk  with  Bishop 
Wilberforce,  ii.  347  ;  speaks  at 
meeting  at  Llandudno,  384,  385  ; 
vehemence  of,  393,  394  ;  speaks  at 
Bradford,  402;  on  Bishop  Wilber- 
force preaching  at  Chichester,  iii. 
236 ;  action  of,  as  to  elections, 
260  ;  letter  of,  to  Sir  C.  Anderson, 
265  ;  on  Bishopric  of  Winchester, 
305  ;  letter  of  Bishop  Wilberforce 
to,  on  Glengarry  scandal,  384  ; 
on  Church  appointments,  432 
Hope,  Right  Hon.  A.  J.  B.,  ii.  147  ; 
iii.  144,  214,  240,  262,  263,  401 

—  Mr.  James,  i.  203 

—  Lady    Mildred,    ii.    423  ;    iii. 
144,  262 

Hopwood,  Rev.  F.,  ii.  409 

Hough,  Mr.,  i.  65 

Houghton,    Lord,    speech    of,    on 

'  Essays   and   Reviews,'  iii.   140, 

410,   426.     Sec   Milnes,  Monck- 

ton 
House    of    Lords,    speeches     by 
Bishop  Wilberforce  in : 

On    Bishop    Blomfield's  Bill,  ii. 
41,42. 


462  INDEX. 

HOUSE 

House  of  Lords,  speeches  by  Bishop 
Wilberforce  in  : 
On  Canada  Clergy  Reserves,  ii. 

—  Colonial  Church,  iii.  220 

—  Convocation,  ii.  382 

—  Corn  Laws,  i.  367 

—  Church  discipline,  ii.  316,  351 

—  Church  rates,  ii.  381,  382 
In  defence  of  Bishop  Hamilton, 

ii.  318 

Bishop  Monk,  ii.  120 

On  Divorce  Bill,  ii.  318,  339,  344, 

346 

—  Ecclesiastical  Titles  Bill,    ii, 
118 

—  Exclusion     of     Bible     from 
Indian  schools,  ii.  451,  452 

—  Factory  Bill,  i.  389 

—  Increase  of  Episcopate,  iii.  167 

—  India,  ii.  382,  383 

—  Indian    Civil    Service    (Uni- 
versities) Bill,  ii.  119 

—  Irish  Church,  iii.  289 

—  Marriage      with      Deceased 
Wife's  Sister,  ii.  316,  389 

—  Missionary  Bishops    Bill,  iii. 

—  Oaths  Bill,  ii.  382 

—  Post     Office     Arrangements 
Bill,  ii.  45 

—  Religious     Opinions    Bill,    i. 
163 

—  Religious  Worship  Bill,  ii.  285 

—  Removal  of  Political  Services 
from  Prayer  Book,  ii.  380 

In  Reply  to  Lord  Derby,  ii.  178 

—  ■ —    —  Bishop  of  Exeter,  ii. 
178 

—  —    —  Lord    Oranmore  and 
Browne,  iii.  421,  422 

—  —    —  Lord   Shaftesbury,  iii. 
213 

—  —    —   Lord  Westbury,    iii. 
140,  141 

On  Revision  of  Prayer  Book,  ii. 
448,  449 

—  Lord  Shaftesbury's   Bill,   iii. 
212 

—  Slavery,  i.  368 

—  Sugar  duties,  i.  368 

—  Suffragan  Bishops,  iii.  12 

—  Welsh  Bishoprics,  i.  366 
. —  Uniformity  Act  Amendment 

Bill,  iii.  49-51 


JACKSON 

Howard,  Lord,  i.  241 

Howley,  Archbishop  of  Canterbury, 

i.  60,  426,  431,  508  ;  ii.  6 
Hubbard,    Right    Hon.   J.    G.,   ii. 

381  ;  iii.  214,  217,  240 
Huddleston,  Lady  Diana,  iii.  404 
Hull,  meeting  at,  iii.  260 
—  speech  at,  for  S.P.G.,  iii.  153 
Hulme,    Miss,    builds    church    at 

Boyne  Hill,  ii.  386,  387,  389,  390 
Humbert,  Rev.  L.  M.,  iii.  427 
Hurley,  Confirmation,  iii.  296 
Huskisson,  Right  Hon.  W.,  i.  40 
Hylton,  Lord,  iii.  401 


TGNATIUS,  Father.     .S"^^  Lyne, 

i     Rev.  J.  L. 

Illinois,  Bishop  of,  iii.  231,  235 

Increase  of  Episcopate,  Bill  for,  iii. 
224  ;  speech  on,  167 

India  Bill,  ii.  382,  383 

Indian  Civil  Service  (Universities) 
Bill,  ii.  119 

Indian  schools,  exclusion  of  Bible 
from,  ii.  451,  452 

Industrial  Exhibition,  ii.  29 

Inglis,  Sir  Robert,  offers  S.  Wilber- 
force Leeds  Vicarage,  i.  loi,  103, 
105  ;  at  Bishop  Wilberforce's  Con- 
secration, 317  ;  conversation  of 
with  J.  Bright,  ii.  247 

Inverness  Cathedral,  sermon  at,  iii. 
302 

Ireland,  tours  in,  iii.  23-31,  261- 
263 

Irving,  E.,  preaching  of,  i.  98 ;  iii. 
64 

Irvingites,  interview  of,  with  S. 
Wilberforce,  i.  99 

Isaacson,  Rev.  Mr.,  ii.  20S 

Isham,  Rev.  A.,  letter  to,  on  Curates' 
licences,  ii.  226 

Irish  Bishops,  the,  account  of,  iii. 
25,26 

—  Church,  the,  i.  271,  273;  iii, 
24,  47  ;  disestablishment  of,  241, 
242,  245,  247,  258,  272,  274-292, 
297 

—  Church  Bill,  iii.  288,  289,  297 

—  Land  Bill,  iii.  340,  345,  346 


JACKSON,  Cyril,  Dean  of  Christ 
Church,  anecdotes  of,  iii.  147 


INDEX. 


463 


JACKSON 

Jackson,  J.,  Bishop  of  Lincoln 
and  London,  See  of  Lincoln 
offered  to,  ii.  179;  assists  at 
Reading  Mission,  436;  on  repeal 
of  29th  Canon,  437,  441  ;  on  pro- 
posed Ritual  legislation,  iii.  191  ; 
on  Irish  Church,  193,  284,287; 
speech  on  Bishop  Wilberforce  in 
Convocation,  432,  433 

—  Dr.,  President  of  Trinity  Col- 
lege, Hartford,  U.S.,  iii.  431 

—  Mrs.,  370 

Jacob,  Archdeacon,  i.  85 
Jacobson,  Bishop  of  Chester,  iii,  401 
James,  Rev.  J.,  i.  2,  284  ;  iii.  430 

—  Sir  W.,  i.  119  ;  iii.  413 
Japanese  Missionaries,  iii.  417 
Jelf,  Rev.  Dr.,  Principal  of  King's 

College,  i.  26  ;  view  of  Maurice's 

case,  ii.  20S,  209,  210 
Jenkyns,  Canon,  i.  27 
Jennings,  Canon,  i.  270,  271 
Jeremie,   Dr.,  Regius  Professor  of 

Divinity,  Cambridge,  ii.  194 
Jersey,  Countess  of,  ii.  319 

—  Confirmations  at,  iii.  362,  363  ; 
sermons  at,  362,  363  ;  visit  to, 
362,  363 

Jerusalem  Bishopric,  i.  194,  195 
Jews  Bill,  I,  432  ;  ii.  1S8,  382 
Jones,    Archdeacon,    conversation 

with,  iii.  147 
Jowett,  Professor,  iii.  3 
Judicature  Bill,  iii.  421,  423 
Judicial    Committee.      See    Privy 

Council 


KAYE,  Bishop  of  Lincoln,  on 
Hampden's  case,  i.  430,  432  ; 
on  Allies'  case,  ii.  22  ;  death  of, 
177 
Keble,Rev.  J.,  Fellow  of  Oriel, i.  26; 
at  Freshwater  (Isle  of  Wight), 
loi  ;  discusses  Hampden's  case, 
494,  495,  496,  497  ;  correspond- 
ence of,  with  Bishop  Wilberforce 
as  to  Dr.  Pusey,  ii.  93,  96,  loi, 
103 ;  with  Dr.  Pusey,  99,  100, 
109,  115  ;  signs  petition  on  edu- 
cation to  Convocation,  147  ;  letter 
of,  on  Real  Presence  alluded  to, 
255,  256  ;  opinion  of  Mr.  Glad- 
stone, 281  ;  'Eucharistical  Adora- 
tion '  written  by,  369  ;  article  on 


LAWRELL 


Life  of,  50  {note)  ;    anecdote  of, 
iii.  59 ;  letter  of,  on  Colenso,  128  ; 
sermon  by,  131 
Keble,  Rev.  T.,  i.  ^-^ 

—  College,  iii.  246,  345 
Keir,  visit  to,  ii.  335 

Kelly,  Right  Hon.  Sir  Fitzroy,  i.  50S 
Kennaway,  Rev.  C,  i.  238,  290 
Kent,  Duchess  of,  i.  202,  309 

—  Duke  of,  ii.  280 
Kerr,  Hon.  Miss,  i.  259 
Kidmore  End,  Confirmation  at,  iii. 

222 
Kingcote,  sermon  at,  iii.  -^i 
King's  College  Chapel,  sermon  at, 

iii.  223 
Kingscote,  Mr.,  holds  meeting  as 

to  Sub-deacons,  i.  241 
Kingsley,    Rev.    C,   iii.   305,  339  ; 

opinion  of  Bishop  Wilberforce, 

370 
Kinnaird,  Hon.  A.,  attacks  Mission- 
ary    Bishops    Bill,   ii.    195,  201 

204,  206 
Knollys,  Right   Hon,    Sir    W.,  iii. 

yn,  388, 403 

Knowsley,  visit  to,  iii.  265 
Knox,  Mr.,  review  of  his  books,  iii. 
408 


LAMBETH  Chapel,  i.  508;  iii. 
231 

—  Palace,  Bishops'  meetings  at,  iii. 
89,  III,  176,  191,  193,247,379, 

390,  391 

Pan-Anglican  Synod  held  at, 

iii.  229,  231 
Lansdowne,  Marquis  of,  ii.  318 
Lavington,  S,  Wilberforce  married 
at,  i,  40  ;  visits  to,  84,  85,  138, 
180,  192,  318;  ii.  50,  51,  251, 
258-261,  285-287,  3C2,  319,  338, 
348,  447  ;  111.  174,  254,  294,  344, 
366;  beauty  of,  127,  239,  417, 
357  ;  visits  to,  371,  390,  397,  405, 
406,408,412;  last  ride  to,  414, 
415,  428;  Bishop  Wilberforce's 
funeral  at,  430  ;  Mrs.  S.  Wilber- 
force's funeral  at,  i.  189,  190 ; 
Herbert's  funeral  at,  ii.  307,  309  ; 
Ordinations  at,  iii.  31,  168  ;  ser- 
mons at,  ii.  259  ;  iii.  225 

—  case,  the,  ii.  415 
Lawrcll,  Rev.  J.,  iii.  29,  30 


aM 


INDEX. 


LAWRENCE 


LONGLEY 


Lawrence,  Sir  J.,  ii.  423 
Lea,  visit  to,  iii.  368 
Leatherhead,  Confirmation  at,  iii. 

394  ,      ... 

Lectionary  Committee,  the,  m,  249, 
250,  297 

—  New,  iii.  250 

Lee,  Bishop  Prince,  of  Manchester, 
ii.  347,  349,  355,  375  ;  ii'-  189 

Leeds,  Duke  of,  signs  protest 
against  Divorce  Bill,  ii.  344 

—  offer  of  Vicarage  of,  i.  101-105 

—  meeting  for  Hawaiian  Mission 
at,  iii.  172,  173 

—  Church  Congress  at,  iii.  232,  398, 

399 
Legard,  Miss  Jane,  marries  Robert 

Wilberforce,  i.  103 
Legge,  Bishop  of  Oxford,  i.  32 
Lehzen,  Baroness,  i.  199,219;  ii.  168 
Leigh,  Rev.  Austen,  Commissioner 

in  Boyne  Hill  case,  ii.  392 
Leighton,     Dr.,     Warden     of    All 

Souls,  Vice-Chancellor  of  Oxford, 

ii-  379,  419,  423,  436,  446;   iii. 
225,  238,  246,  399 

—  Sir  Baldwin,  11.  335,  336 
Leopold,  Prince,  christening  of,  ii. 

190 ;  iii.  411 
Le  Sueur,  M.,  iii.  363 
Leven,  Lord,  visit  to,  iii.  303 
Levett,  Mrs.,  iii.  178 
Lewis,  Sir  G.  C,  ii.  8,  408,  442 
Lichfield,  meeting  at  ;  sermon  at, 

iii-  33 

—  Bishop  of.  See  Lonsdale,  J  ; 
Selvvyn,  G.  A. 

—  Earl  of,  ii.  300  ;  iii.  '^'\ 
Liddell,  Hon.  and  Rev.  R.,  ii.  316, 

348 

—  Rev.  H.,  Dean  of  Christ  Church, 
iii.  222 

Liddon,  Rev.  H.  P.,  resignation  of 
Vice-Principalship  of  Cuddesdon 
College,  ii.  229,  359,  366-373, 
415  ;  in  retreat  at  Cuddesdon, 
446  ;  anecdote  related  by,  iii.  93; 
sermon  by,  343  ;  letter  to,  on 
Westminster  scandal,  352  ;  on 
Athanasian  Creed,  390 

Liebig,  Professor,  i.  239 

Lillingston  Dayrell,  Confirmation 
at,  ii.  418 

Limerick,  Bishop  of,  on  Irish 
Church,  iii.  285-287 


Lincoln,  sermon  at,  iii.  16 

—  Bishop   of.      See    Jackson,    J.  ; 
Kaye,  J.  ;  Wordsworth,  C. 

—  Earl  of,  i.  321.     See  Newcastle, 
Duke  of 

Lister,  Hon.  Miss,  i.  199 
'Literary  Churchman,' review  in,  iii. 

57 
Littledale,  Rev.  Dr.,  iii.  201 
Liverpool,  Earl  of,  Lord  Aberdeen's 

opinion  of,  ii.  332,  ■^^z,  348,  410, 

411 

—  meetings  at,  iii.  173,  259,  265 

—  sermon  at,  iii.  259 
Livingstone,  Dr.,  ii.  357,  444 
Llandafif,   Bishop   of.      See  Cople- 

stone  ;  Ollivant,  A. 

—  sermon  at,  ii.  340 
Llandudno,  speech  at,  ii.  384 
Lloyd,  Bishop  of  Oxford,  i.  42 

—  Rev.  C,  ii.   310,  377,  419  ;  iii. 
296,  378,  380,  409,  430 

Lockhart,  Mr.,  editor  of '  Quarterly,' 

i.  249 
Lockwood  Kings,  Confirmation  at, 

iii.  221 
Locock,  Dr.,  i,  103,  105 
London,  Bishop  of.     See  Blomfield, 

C.  J.  ;  Jackson,  J.  ;  Tait,  A.  C. 
London  Hospital,  sermon  for,  ii.  9 
Londonderry,  sermon  at,  iii.  24 
Long  V.  Bishop  of  Capetown,  case 

of,  iii.  113,  121 
Long  Compton,  sermon  at,  iii.  90 
Longley,  C.  T.,  Bishop  of  Ripon, 
of  Durham,  Archbishop  of  York, 
Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  letter 
of,  to  Lord  J.  Russell,  i.  434 ; 
offered  Bishopric  of  Lincoln,  ii. 
179  ;  votes  against  Clergy  Dis- 
cipline Amendment  Bill,  ii.  356  ; 
at  Bishop  Auckland  Castle,  413  ; 
Archbishopric  of  York  offered 
to,  449  ;  Bishop  Wilberforce 
with,  iii.  33,  34 ;  accepts  See 
of  Canterbury,  62  ;  on  Court  of 
Appeal,  III;  illness  of,  114; 
character  of,  121,  127;  corre- 
spondence with  Bishop  Wilber- 
force on  proposed  Ritual  legisla- 
tion, 188,  190,  207,  210  ;  letter 
from,  approving  of  Charge,  203  ; 
on  Pan-Anglican  Conference, 
230,  231  ;  letter  to,  on  Ritual 
Commission,  240 ;    conversation 


INDEX. 


465 


LONSDALE 


MARTIN 


•with,  248  ;    death   of,   254,   264, 

265 
Lonsdale,  Bishop  of  Lichfield,  on 

Professor  Maurice's  case,  ii.  208 
Lopes,  Sir  R.,  i.  146 
Lome,  Marquis  of,  iii.  381,  397 
Louise,  H.R.H.  Princess,  ii.  ii;  iii. 

221,297,  381,  397,416 
Lowder,    Rev.    C,   Mission   of,   at 

S.  Peter's,  London  Docks,  ii.  341 
Lowe,  Riojht  Hon.  R.,  Lord  Sher- 

brook,  iii.  224,  410 
Lucas,  Rev.  \V.,  iii.  374 
Luney,  Rev.  R.,  i.  148 
Lushington,  Dr.,  Dean  of  Arches, 

i.  425,  507 
Lyndhurst,  Lord,   i.   222  ;    ii,   318, 

Lyne,  Rev.  J.  L.,  letter  to,  iii.  165 
Lyte,  Rev.  F.,  i.  36  ;  letters  to,  37, 

85 

Lyttelton,  Lady,  letters  of,  i.  220, 
221 

—  Lord,  i.  153;  Bill  for  Subdividing 
Dioceses,  iii.  12,  13  ;  Bill  for  In- 
crease of  Episcopate,  167,  224  ; 
letter  to,  on  Irish  Church,  283  ; 
on  Athanasian  Committee,  401 


MACBRIDE,  Dr.,  visits  to,  i. 
85,  116;  iii.  238 
Macaulay,    Lord,    i.    299 ;    ii.   244, 

408,  423,  436 
MacCall,  Rev.  Mr.,  i.  65  ;  succeeds 

S.  Wilberforce  at  Brighstone,  102 
Mackarness,  Bishop  of  Oxford,  ii. 

421  ;  iii.  308,  310,  370,  399,  430 
Mackenzie,  Bishop,  to  head  Central 

African    Mission,   ii.    422,   443  ; 

farewell  service  to,  445  ;  attends 

meetings   on  behalf  of  Mission, 

449  ;  death  of,  iii.  54 
Mackness,   Rev.   G.,  letter   to,  on 

Glengarry  scandal,  iii.  386 
Maclagan,  Rev.  Dr.,  iii.  401 
Maclean,    Mr.,   speaks   at    Oxford 

Debating  Society,  i.  29 
Macmullen,  Mr.,  secedes  to  Rome, 

i.  416 
!Magee,  Dean  of  Cork,  iii.  225,  261; 

Bishop  of  Peterborough,  action 

of,  as  to  Irish  Church,  iii.  282-284, 

287,  291;  at  Bishop  Wilberforce's 

funeral,  430 

VOL.  IIL 


Maguire,  Rev.  R.,  iii.  421 
Mahon,  Lord.     See  Stanhope 
Maidenhead,  Mission  at,  iii.  295, 296 
Majendie,  Rev.  H.,  iii.  317  ;  letter 

to,  on  Irish  Church,  iii.  291 
Malan,  Re\\  Mr.,  i.  y] 
Malmesbury,  Lord,  iii.  367 
Manchester,   sermon   at,    ii.    347  ; 

speech  at,  ii.  347 

—  Bishop  of.     See  Lee,  J.  P. 
Mandamus.     See   Queen's    Bench, 

Court  of 
Manners,  Lady  Adeliza,  i.  396 

—  Lord  John,  i.  396 

Manning,  Rev.  H.  E.,  Archdeacon 
of  Chichester,  marries  Caroline 
Sargent,  i.  68  ;  winters  at  Rome, 
130;  opinion  of  Sterling,  154; 
appointed  Archdeacon  of  Chi- 
chester, 163  ;  publishes  '■  Rule 
of  Faith,'  213  ;  apprehended 
secession  of,  ii.  47-49  ;  seces- 
sion of,  50  ;  referred  to,  252  ; 
visits  Burton  Agnes.  261-263  J 
conversation  of,  with  Bishop 
Trower,  266 ;  alluded  to  in 
letter  to  H.  Wilberforce,  302  ; 
letter  of,  to  Bishop  Wilberforce, 
307  ;  telegraph  as  to  illness  of 
Archdeacon  Wilberforce,  337 ; 
meeting  with,  iii.  181  ;  conduct 
of,  to  Pope,  248 ;  character  of, 
424 

Manseil,  Dean,  iii.  396 

Mansion  House,  speech  at,  on 
behalf  of  S.P.G.,  i.  159 

Mapledurham,  Confirmation  at,  iii. 
222 

Marden  Park,  i.  7,  14,  20,  190  ;  iii. 

367 
Margaret  Street  Chapel,  i.  102,  103, 

237 
Marlborough,  Duke  of,  ii.  451  ;  iii. 

173,  246,  297 
Marlow,  Mission  at,  iii.  159 
Marriage    with    Deceased    Wife's 

Sister  Bill,  ii.  316,  382 
Marriott,    Rev.    C,   i.    450,    451  ; 

letter  to,  ii.  83 
Marsh,  Rev.  Mr.,  i.  112 
Marshall,  Rev.  E.,  incident  related 

by,  iii.  425 
Martin,  Chancellor,  ii.  279 

—  V.  Mackonochie,  judgment  of 
Privy  Council  in,  iii.  293,  298 


H  H 


466 


INDEX. 


Martyn,  Rev.  Henry,  i.  83,  in 
Mary,  H.R.H.  Princess  of  Teck,  iii. 

Massingberd,  Chancellor,  iii.  404 

Matheson,  Mr.,  i.  65,  103,  116 

Maurice,  Professor,  sermons  of,  i. 
142  ;  conversations  of,  with  S. 
Wilberforce,  i.  152,  212,  237  ; 
letter  of,  197;  possible  promotion 
of,  276,  313  ;  essays  of,  ii.  208, 
209  ;  correspondence  of,  with 
Bishop  Wilberforce,  210-214  ; 
essays  of,  condemned,  215,  216, 
217,  218  ;  on  Atonement,  iii.  396 

Maunoir,  Mr.,  i.  38 

Maxwell,  Sir  W.  S.,  iii.  378,  382 

Maynooth  Grant,  i.  265,  266 

McNeil,  Dr.,  iii.  i,  190 

Meath,  Bishop  of,  on  Irish  Church, 
iii.  285 

Meetings,  private,  of  Bishops,  ii. 
355  ;  iii.  114-116,  119,  177,  191, 
283-288 

Melbourne,  Lord,  i.  1"],  211,  326, 
426  ;  iii.  234 

Melliar,  Mr.  Foster,  iii.  425 

Melvill,  Rev.  Mr.,  sermons  of,  i.  65, 
84,  118,  120 

Merimce,  Prosper,  ii.  293 

Merivale,  Herman,  i.  27 

Merriman, Bishop  of  Grahamstown, 
iii.  177 

Merstham,  consecration  of  church- 
yard, iii.  408 

Michon,  Abbe,  '  Le  Maudit,'  by, 
'  La  Religieuse,'  by,  iii.  158,  159 

Middleton,  Stony,  visits  to,  iii.  225, 

304 
Mignet,  M.,  ii.  293 
Milbanke,  Lady,  iii.  407 

—  Sir  P.,  iii.  382 

Milman,  R.,  Bishop  of  Calcutta,  iii. 
219,  292  ;  letter  on  Pan-AngUcan 
wSynod,  229 

—  Dean,  ii.  244 

Milnes,  Monckton,  conversation 
with  Carlyle,  i.  400 ;  ii.  244,  247, 
318.     See  Houghton,  Lord 

Milton  Abbey,  sermon  at,  i.  146 

—  Hill,  Confirmation  at,  iii.  221 
Minto,  Earl  of,  ii.  415 
Mission,  Hawaiian,  iii.  171 

—  to  Honolulu,  iii.  65 

—  South  African,  iii.  35 

—  Universities.  See  CentralAfrican 


NEWCASTLE 

Missions,  at  Bampton,  i.  62,  177  ; 
iii.  31 

—  Banbury,  i.  30,  31 

—  Chipping  Norton,  iii.  221 

—  Farringdon,  ii.  30 

—  Maidenhead,  iii.  295,  296 

—  Marlow,  iii.  159 

—  Reading,  ii.  436,  437  ;  iii.  176- 
180 

—  Wantage,  ii.  8,  30,  34S,  349 
Mitford,  Hon.  Mrs.,  iii.  405 
Mixbury,  Confirmation  at,  iii.  133 
Moberley,  G.,  Bishop  of  Salisbury, 

i.  53  ;  ii.  197  ;  iii.  59 

Monk,  Bishop  of  Gloucester,  de- 
fended by  Bishop  Wilberforce  in 
House  of  Lords,  ii.  120;  funeral 
of,  318 

Monsell,  Rev.  Dr.,  verses  by,  iii. 
31  ;  answer  to,  32  ;  verses  by,  on 
Bishop  Wilberforce's  enthrone- 
ment, 320 ;  at  Southampton,  405  ; 
at  Abinger,  427 

—  Hon.  Mrs.,  ii.  229,  279,  381 
Montreal.     See  Fulford,  Bishop 
Moray,    Synod    of,   on    Glengarry 

scandal,  iii.  383-385 

Morley,  Countess  of,  boii  mot  of, 
ii.  319 

Mozley,  J.,  Rev.  Canon,  i.  495,  497, 
ii.  342 

Muncaster,  Lord,  ii.  409  ;  visit  to, 
iii.  398 

Munich,  journey  to,  ii.  224 

Murchison,  Sir  R.,  i.  239  ;  ii.  7 

Murray,  Bishop  of  Rochester,  i. 
441 

• —  Rev.  Dr.,  Rector  of  Niagara,  ex- 
tracts from  journal  of,  iii.    130, 

131 

—  Hon.  Miss,  i.  259 
Musgrave,    Archbishop    of    York, 

appointed,  i.  416  ;  ii.  37 


■\  T  ATAL    Committee,    iii. 


248 


247, 


National  Society,  ii.  9,  11,  12 

Neale,  Mrs.,  iii.  371 

Nelson,  Earl,  ii.  147,  344,  381  ;  iii. 
261,  291,  400 

Netherby,  visit  to,  ii.  329,  330 

Newcastle,  Duke  of  {see  Lord 
Lincoln),  stands  for  Chancellor- 
ship of  University  of  Oxford,  ii. 


NEWMAN 

149,  150;  letter  to  Lord  Aber- 
deen, 175  ;  conversation  of,  248  ; 
Lord  Aberdeen  on,  330,  331  ;  on 
Divorce  Bill,  345  ;  illness  of,  iii. 

lOI 

Newman,  F.,  i.  ^3 

—  Rev.  J.  H.,i.  54  ;  publishes  third 
volume  of  sermons,  86,  88;  con- 
versation of,  95  ;  letter  of,  to  S. 
Wilberforce,  109,  125  ;  alluded 
to.  III  ;  sermons  by,  116  ;  work 
of,  on  Justification  by  Faith,  121, 
205,  213  ;  conversation  with  S. 
Wilberforce,  129,  130;  opposition 
of,  to  Martyrs'  Memorial,  131  ; 
articles  by,  142  ;  letter  of,  to  Vice- 
Chancellor,  193  (fio/i') ;  secession 
of,  probable,  258 ;  secession  of, 
298,  299  ;  'Theory  of  Develop- 
ment,' by,  327-329 ;  at  Mr.  G. 
Ryder's,  ii.  55  ;  effects  of  seces- 
sion of,  95  ;  on  Decay  of  Faith, 
iii.  100 

Newbury,  address  from,  iii.  317 
Newman  Hall,  Mr.,  letter  from,  iii. 

153 

Newport  (Isle  of  Wight),  sermons 
at,  i.  66,  68  ;  iii.  227  ;  meetings 
at,  i.  72,  79  ;  speech  at,  on  Sun- 
day Schools,  iii.  227  ;  Ordination 
at,  416 

—  Pagnell,  sermon  at,  ii.  418  ; 
Confirmation  at,  iii.  47 

—  Market  Refuge,  speech  for,  iii. 
177 

Newtonards,  sermon  at,  iii.  69 
Nicholson,  General,  ii.  349 
Noel,  Rev.  Baptist,  i.  84 

—  Rev.  Gerard,  i.  295 

—  Miss  L.,  letter  to,  i.  74  ;  ac- 
count of,  94  ;  letters  to,  from  S. 
Wilberforce,  describing  visit  to 
Oxford,  94  ;  on  anniversary  of 
Mrs.  S.  Wilberforce's  death,  191; 
on  death  of  Mrs.  Sargent  (1841), 
192;  describing  visit  to  Windsor 
Castle,  199  ;  about  King  of 
Prussia,  200  ;  describing  visit  to 
Windsor  Castle,  211  ;  living  of 
E.  P'arleigh,  222  ;  spring  feel- 
ings, 236  ;  London  engagements, 
237  ;  as  to  picture,  238  (fto/d)  ; 
from  Lavington,  239  ;  anxiety  as 
to  H.  Wilberforce,  241  ;  mes- 
merism,   260  ;    Ward's    '  Ideal,' 


INDEX.  467 

ORANMORE 

261  ;  Deanery  of  Westminster, 
264  ;  Westminster  work,  267  ; 
Drawing  Room,  269  ;  journey  to 
Tewkesbury,  269  ;  Bishopric  of 
Oxford,  274  ;  Cuddesdon,  309  ; 
Consecration,  317  ;  Ordination, 
322  ;  illness,  325  ;  Dr.  Pusey's 
sermon,  327  ;  Cuddesdon  work, 
342  ;  House  of  Lords,  359  ;  Car- 
lyle's  '  Cromwell,'  360  ;  House  of 
Lords'  speech,  361  ;  G.  Ryder's 
secession,  362  ;  speech  on  Corn 
Laws,  371  ;  Sugar  Bill,  371,  372  ; 
Brighstone,  373  ;  tutorship  of 
Prince  of  Wales,  374  ;  Belvoir 
Castle,  396  ;  Queen  at  Cam- 
bridge, 398  ;  illness  of  Mr. 
Trench,  399  ;  funeral  of  the  Bi- 
shop's mother,  401  ;  Confirma- 
tions, 401  ;  Archbishop  Harcourt, 
418  ;  Df.  Hampden,  445,  497, 
509;  Sir  R.  Peel,  514;  Arch- 
bishopric of  Canterbury,  ii.  6;  lite- 
rary breakfast,  7  ;  sermons  at 
Wantage,  8-14  ;  Mr.  Allies,  20 

Normandy,  tour  in,  iii.,  354-361, 
365 

North  Berwick,  sermon  at,  iii.  69 

North,  Colonel,  ii.  12 

Northampton,  Marc][uis  of,  i.  239 

Norton,  Hon.  Mrs.,  Duke  of  Wel- 
lington's letter  to,  ii.  335  ;  at 
Keir,  iii.  382 

Norwich,  Bishop  of.  St'c'  Hinds, 
S.  ;  Pelham,  Hon.  J.  T. 

'  Note-book  of  a  Country  Clergy- 
man,' by  S.  Wilberforce,  i.  64 

Nuneham,  i.  295 


PyAKLEY,  Rev.  F.,i.  33,  35,  54, 

\J     68,  298 

'  Observations  on  Religious  Dis- 
sent,' by  Dr.  Hampden,  i.  422- 
425,467,468 

O'Connell,  Daniel,  i.  65 

Olivier,  Mr.,  iii.;367,  368 

Ollivant,  Bishop  of  Llandaff,  ii. 
441  ;  iii.  284,  2S6  ;  letter  to,  on 
'  Essays  and  Reviews,'  7 

Olney,  sermon  at,  ii.  418 

Ommancy,  Capt.,  ii.  304 

Onslow,  Rev.  L.,  iii.  ^yj 

Oranmore  and  Browne,  Lord,  at- 
tacks Bishop  Wilberforce,  iii.  421 


H  H 


468 


INDEX. 


ORDINATIONS 


PEEL 


Ordinations,  description  of,  i.  330, 
339  ;  anecdote  of,  ii.  6,  317  ;  iii. 

Oriel  College,  Oxford,  i.  25,  26,  32; 

iii.  4 
Orloff,  Prince,  scheme  of  union  with 

Russian  Church,  iii.  159 
Ormond,  Marquis  of,  i.  259 
Osborne    (Isle   of  Wight),   i.    241, 

yiZ,  374  ;  iii-  393 
— •  Rev.  Lord  S.  G.,  ii.  147 
Ossington,  Viscount.    See  Denison, 

Right  Hon.  J.  E. 

—  visits  to,  iii.  63, 92,  367  ;  sermon 
at,  63 

Ossulston,  Lord,  i.  321 

Oswestry,  speech  at,  ii.  383 

Otter,  Bishop,  i.  343 

Overstone,  Lord,  ii.  8,  282,  339  ; 
letter  to  Bishop  Wilberforce  on 
leaving  See  of  Oxford,  iii.  308 

Oxford,  i.  4,20,  32,  36,  85,  86,  87, 
89,  132,  138,190,204,  233,248, 
266,  299,  317,  323,  353,  355,  376, 
460,472,473  ;  11.  190;  in.  317 

Oxford,  Bishop  of.  See  Bagot ; 
Lloyd  ;  Mackarness  ;  Wilber- 
force, S. 

—  Bishopric  of.  Diocese  of,  See  of,  i. 
244,  259,273,  274,  275,  300,  310, 
330,  33I5  340,  341,  344,  347,  349. 
354,  381,  387  ;  ii.  30,  58,  63,  81  ; 
^-'-l,  347,  415,416;  HI.  186,  312, 
314,  322,  343 

Oxford   and    Cambridge    Mission. 

See  Central  African  Mission 
Oxford    Clergy,    farewell     address 

from,  iii.  314 

—  Church  Congress  at,  iii.  51,  52, 

332,  336 

—  Conference  at,  iii.  149 

—  Confirmations  at,  ii.  12;  iii.  222, 
242,  297 

—  Diocesan   Board  of  Education, 

i-  387 

—  Diocesan  Society  formed,  i.  386  ; 
ii.  2;  meetings  of,  iii.  154,155, 
178 

—  Diocesan  Synod,  ii.  55,  419 

—  Tracts.  See  'Tracts  for  the 
Times' 

—  Sermons  at,  i.  88,  91,  93,  116, 
123,  140;  ii.  339;  iii.  14,  34,  35, 
52,  89,  178,  225,  238,  242,  343 

—  Sisterhoods  at,  iii.  322 


Oxford  University,  Convocation  of, 
i.  218,  229,  235;  249 

—  University  of,  i.  54,  123,  130, 
140,  218,  228,  245,  251,  252,  253, 
262,  296,  416,  425,  429,  439,  440, 
447  ;  n.  148,  158,  440;  iii.  19-22,. 
90,  1 61-163,  246 


PADDINGTON,  Sermon  at,ii. 
423 

Paget,  Sir  James,  iii.  409,  410 

Pakington,  Sir  J.,  attacks  Bishop- 
Wilberforce  on  Canada  Clergy 
Reserves  Bill,  ii.  180  ;  Mis- 
sionary Bishop's  Bill,  195 

Palmer,  Sir  Roundell,  Lord  Sel- 
borne,  ii.  196,319;  iii.  121,  133 

Palmerston,  Viscount,  speech  of,, 
at  Winchester  answered,  i.  107^ 
108  ;  forms  a  Government,  ii. 
276-280 ;  Lord  Aberdeen's 
opinion  of,  330-335,  341,  348, 
411,  415;  Mr.  Gladstone  on,, 
349  ;  with  reference  to  Convo- 
cation, 439,  440  :  appointments 
by,  iii.  84  ;  in  House  of  Com- 
mons, 91 

Parham,  visit  to,  iii.  414 

Paris,  Confirmation  at,  iii.  134; 
sermon  at,  135 

Paris,  Exhibition  at,  ii.  292 

Patten,  Right  Hon.  Wilson,  Lord 
Winmarleigh,  ii.  247,  24S 

Pan-Anglican  Conference,  iii.  229- 
232,  236 

Patteson,  Sir  J.,  i.  203,  507 

Pattison,  Mr.  M.,  essay  of,  ii.  3 

Pavilion,  the,  at  Brighton,  i.  219  ; 
sermon  at,  259 

Peacock,  Dean,  Prolocutor  of  Lower 
House  of  Convocation,  ii.  141, 
270 

Pearson,Dean  of  Salisbury,  i.41,  iiz 

—  Rev.  H.  P.,  iii.  225,  246  ; 
letters  to,  on  visit  to  Bishop' 
Phillpotts,  235  ;  on  leaving  Dio- 
cese of  Oxford,  311  ;  on  Leeds. 
Church  Congress,  399 

Peel,  Right  Hon.  Sir  R.,  as  a 
Minister,  i.  45,  -ji ,  297,  321,  322  ; 
praises  speech  of  S.  Wilberforce, 
161  ;  offers  S.  Wilberforce  See 
of  O.xford,  202,  271.  272  ;  at 
Osborne,    321  ;     at    Claremont, 


INDEX. 


469 


PELHAM 


PRUSSIA 


342  ;  visit  of  Bishop  Wilberforce 
to,  514,  515  ;  anecdotes  of,  iii. 
22,  29  ;  conversation  with,  91  ; 
letter  of,  to  Bishop  of  Durham, 
i.  165  ;  letter  of,  to  Bishop  Wilber- 
force on  Hampden's  case,  504,  505 
Pelham,  Bishop  of  Norwich,  ii.  441  ; 

iii.  284,  286 
Penrhyn,  Lord,  iii.  409 
Pepys,  Bishop  of  Worcester,  ii.  375 
Perceval,  Dudley,  Mr.,  ii.  158 
Perceval,    Right    Hon.    Mr.,    Lord 

Aberdeen's  opinion  of,  ii.  348 
Perry,    Bishop    of    Melbourne,    i. 

395 

Perry,  Rev.  T.  W.,  serves  on  Ri- 
tual Commission,  iii.  214 

Persia,  Shah  of,  iii.  417 

Persigny,  Comte  de,  ii.  410 

Peterborough,  Bishop  of.  See 
Daveys,  G.  ;  Jeune  ;  Magee. 

Petworth,  ii.  448 

Phillimore,  Miss  L.,  iii.  378 

—  Right  Hon.  Sir  R.,  Chancellor 
of  Diocese  of  Oxford,  opinion 
given  by,  i.  411  ;  li.  142  ;  Counsel 
for  Archdeacon  Denison,  ii.  234, 
320,  323,  325;  Commissioner  in 
Boyne  Hill  case,  392,  398  ; 
refusal  of,  to  grant  marriage  li- 
cence to  divorced  person,  347  ; 
on  Court  of  Appeal,  iii.  no; 
Counsel  for  Bishop  of  Capetown, 
116,  124,  126;  goes  with  the 
Bishop  to  St.  Alban's,  Holborn, 
177  ;  on  Ritual  Commission,  214, 
215,  216,  240,  241  ;  letter  to,  on 
leaving  See  of  Oxford,  307  ; 
letter  to,  415  ;  last  breakfast 
with  Bishop  Wilberforce,  423 

—  Lady,  iii.  175,  176 
Phillpotts,  Bishop  of  Exeter,  on  S. 

P.  G.  tour  in  Devon,  i.  145,  146  ; 
votes  in  majority  for  censure  of 
Hampden,  219;  letters  on  Hamp- 
den's appointment,  429,  436,  437, 
493  ;  on  Archdeacon  Denison's 
case,  ii.  234 ;  conversation  with, 
279,  489 ;  visits  to,  336  ;  iii. 
235  ;  speaks  on  Divorce  V>\\\,  ii. 
339)  356  ;  votes  on  Lord  Shaftes- 
bury's Bill,  375  ;  on  Deceased 
Wife's  Sister's  Bill,  382  ;  petition 
of,  438  ;  letter  to,  443  ;  anecdotes 
of,  iii.  29,  262  ;  on  Court  of  Ap- 


peal, no;  letter  from,  on  Lord 
Westbury's  attack,  145  ;  on  pro- 
posed Ritual  legislation,  193  ;  re- 
signs his  See,  319 

Phipps,  Colonel  Hon.  C,  letter 
from,  on  Industrial  Exhibition, 
ii.  29 

Pilkington,  Mrs.,  letter  to,  iii.  416 

Pitt,  Right  Hon.  W.,  i.  149  ;  Lord 
Aberdeen's  opinion  of,  ii.  408, 
409  ;  iii.  57 

Plumptre,  Professor,  correspond- 
ence as  to  Professor  Maurice, 
ii.  217 

Plymouth,  sermon  at,  i.  146  ;  Con- 
firmations at,  ii.  421  ;  iii.  170 

Pollock,  Sir  F.  (after  Chief  Baron), 
i.  154;  iii.  225 

Pope,  the,  Pius  IX.,  iii.  248,  249 

Portal,  Mr.  Wyndham,  recollections 
of  Bishop  Wilberforce's  conver- 
sations, iii.  375 

Portman,  Lady,  i.  199 

—  Lord,  i.  199  ;  ii.  319,  320 
Portsmouth,  sermons  at,  i.  173  ;  iii. 

344  ;  Confirmations  at,  344 

—  Earl  of,  iii.  379 

Post  Office  Arrangements  Bill, 
speech  on,  ii.  45 

Pott,  Rev.  A.,  i.  449  ;  first  Principal 
of  Cuddesdon  College,  ii.  244, 
2)6T)  ;  resigns  Principalship,  366  ; 

iii-.  399,  430 
Powis,  Earl  of,  i.  364,  3S4;  ii.  383 
Preaching,  advice  as  to,  iii.  95-97 
Prevost,  Rev.  Sir  George,  intimate 
friend  of  Bishop  Wilberforce,  i. 
27,    31  ;    tour  abroad  with,   T,y  ; 
visit  at  Brighstone,  68  ;  at  Cud- 
desdon, 188  ;  letters  to,  on  Mrs. 
Wilberforce's    death,    190  ;     on 
Poetry  Professorship,  204;  thank- 
ingfora  copy  of  Bishop  Andrewes^ 
325  ;  on    Ritual    legislation,   iii. 
187  ;  sermon  by,  254  ;  with  Bishop 
Wilberforce,  379,  394,  401,  413 
Proctor,  i.  198 
Princes  Risborough,  Confirmatio.T 

at,  iii.  46,  378 
Prussia,  Crown  Prince  of,  iii.  88, 380, 
381 

—  —  Princess  of,  iii.  88,380,  381. 
Sec  Royal,  H.R.H.  Princess 

—  King  of,and  Jerusalem  Bishopric, 
i.  195,  200,  201 


470 


lyDEX. 


PRUSSIA 


READING 


Prussia,  Queen  of,  i.  201 

Privy  Council,  Judicial  Committee 
of,  i.  231  ;  ii.  34-39,  327  :  iii-  93» 
no,  115,  352,  456  ;  decisions  of, 
in  Bishop  of  Salisbury  v.  Wil- 
liams, in  Fendall  v.  Wilson,  8,  9  ; 
in  Long  v.  Bishop  of  Capetown, 
113  ;  in  Dr.  Colenso's  case,  125, 
126  ;  in  Martin  v.  Mackonochie, 

293 

Pusey,  Rev.  Dr.,  Fellow  of  Oriel, 
i.  27  ;  tract  of  'Sin  after  Bap- 
tism,' J53  ;  letter  of,  as  to  Poetry 
Professorship,  206;  sermon  of,  as 
to  Holy  Eucharist,  228,  229,  230  ; 
translation  of  Avrillon,  236,  237  ; 
sanction  of,  for  publication  of 
letters  {no ft-),  299;  correspondence 
of,  with  Bishop-elect  of  Oxford, 
300-309  ;  Bishop  Wilberforce's 
opinion  of,  311  ;  opposition  of, 
to  Hampden,  459  ;  interview  of, 
with  Baron  Alderson,  ii.  25  ; 
controversy  of,  with  Bishop  Wil- 
berforce,  70-76,  79-1 16 ;  privately 
inhibited,  82  ;  inhibition  of,  re- 
moved, 115;  signs  petition  to 
Convocation  on  Education,  147  ; 
influence  of,  167,  168  ;  declara- 
tion of,  as  to  Denison  case,  328  ; 
book  of,  on  Daniel,  iii.  154;  on 
Ritual  Commission,  215  ;  speech 
at  Keble  College,  246 ;  opposes 
Dr.  Temple's  appointment,  319; 
paper  by,  at  Oxford  Church  Con- 
gress, 336  ;  on  Athanasian  Creed, 
39O)  393  ;  on  Athanasian  Creed 
Committee,  401 

Pye,  Rev.  H.  J.,  iii.  13  ;  married 
Miss  Wilberforce,  ii.  122  ;  seces- 
sion of,  to  Rome,  iii.  254-258 

Pye,  Mrs.  See  Wilberforce,  Miss, 
i.  50  ;  ii.  122  ;  iii.  13  ;  visit  to,  ii. 
385 ;  secession  of,  to  Rome,  iii. 
254,  258 


QUAIN,  Dr.,  iii.  377 
.      '  Quarterly   Review,'   article 

in,  commenting  on  Cuddesdon 
College,  ii.  359  ;  answered  by 
Archdeacons,  363  ;  note  in  article 
qualifying  assertions,  365  ;  Bishop 
Wilberforce's  articles  in,  on  Cleri- 
cal Subscription,  i.  364  ;  on  Mr. 


Keble's  Life,  ii.  50  ;  iii.  298  ;  on 
Darwin's  '  Origin  of  Species,'  ii. 
449,  450  ;  on  '  Essays  and  Re- 
views,' iii.  2,  13  ;  on  '  Early 
Years  of  H.R.H.  Prince  Consort,' 
236  ;  on  Hook's  •  Lives  of  the 
Archbishops  of  Canterbury,'  iii. 
259  ;  on  '  East  African  Slave 
Trade,'  397  ;  on  '  Autumns  on 
the  Spey,'  407 

Quebec,  Bishop  of,  letter  to,  ii.  i8r 

Queen,  her  Majesty  the,  visits  of 
Bishop  W'ilberforce  to,  i.  199,  200, 
211,  259,  309;  ii.  165  ;  iii.  71  ; 
homage  done  to,  321,  323;  at 
Cambridge,  398  ;  story  of,  i63  ; 
conversation  of  Lord  Aberdeen 
with,  274 ;  at  Windsor,  279 ; 
visit  of  Emperor  and  Empress  ot 
the  French  to,  283,  284  ;  at  Con- 
tirmation  of  Princess  Roj-al,  315; 
conversations  with,  iii.  71,  72, 
207  ;  sorrow  for,  at  Prince  Con- 
sort's death,  42,  44,  45  ;  at  Prince 
of  W^ales's  wedding,  88  ;  book  by, 
236  ;  on  Athanasian  Creed,  393 ; 
at  Windsor,  411  ;  represented  at 
Bishop  Wilberforce's  funeral,  430 

Queen's  Bench,  Court  of,  i.  507  ;  ii. 

^  3V 


RAD  LEY,  sermon  at,  iii.  23 
Raglan,  Lord,  ii.  271 
Raikes,  Chancellor,  i.  67,  71 
Ramsden,  Sir  J.,  i.  157  ;  iii.  27^ 
Randall,  Archdeacon,  letter  of,  as 
to    Bishop's    Diocesan  adminis- 
tration, ii.  1-4  ;  visit  to,  14  ;  letter 
of,  on  Bishop's  conduct  in  sorrow, 
309  ;    Commissioner   in    Boyne 
Hill  case,  393-399;  at  Lavington, 
413  ;    with   the    Bishop,   iii.   71, 
178,  296  ;  letters   from,   on  Dr. 
Pusey,  ii.  72 ;  on  Boyne  Hill  case, 
398  ;  on  overwork,  iii.  375 

—  Rev.  E.,  ii.  405 

—  Rev.  R.,  ii.  258,  259,319,  405, 
406  ;  iii.  174,  406 

Rates.     See  Church  rates 

Rate,  Mr.,  iii.  394 

Reading  meeting  to  protest  against 
Papal  aggression,  ii.  55,  56  ;  pro- 
test from,  ii,  42  ;  Missions  at, 
436,  437  ;  iii.  176-180  ;  meetings 


n\DEX. 


471 


RECORD 


SARGENT 


at,  41,  271,  317;  Charge  delivered 
at,  93  ;  conference  at,  154  ;  Con- 
firmations at,  178,  179  ;  sermons 
at,  178,  179,  311;  addresses 
from,  203,  204 

'  Record '  newspaper  on  '  Rocky 
Island,'  i.  215  ;  attacks  of,  ii.  156, 
196,  218-223;  on  'Essays  and 
Reviews,'  iii.  2  ;  on  Mr.  Disraeli, 
270  ;  on  Ritualism,  2>73  5  Rev. 
H.  Venn  and,  407 

Redesdale,  Earl  of,  ii.  9,  344 

Redhill,  sermon  at,  iii.  338 

Reilly,  General,  iii.  402 

Reform  Bill  of  1866,  iii.  181,  236 

Religious  Opinions  Bill,  i.  363 

—  Worship  Bill,  ii.  285  ;  speech 
on,  285 

Revision  of  New  Testament  Com- 
mittee, iii.  346,  347,  350-352 

Prayer  Book,  debate  on,  ii. 

448,  449 

Rhode  Island,   Bishop  of,  ii.  231, 

234 
Rhyl,  sermon  at,  ii.  384 
Richards,  Rev.  W.  U.,  iii.  192 
Richmond,  Confirmation  at,  iii.  2)73 

—  Duke  of,  ii.  334,  335 ;    iii.  235, 

291,  303,  338,  3^3 

—  Mr.  G.,  R.A.,  iii.  76,  77,  366 
Ridley,  Rev.  N.,  iii.  382 
W.  H.,  iii.  382 

Ripon,  Bishop  of.     See  Bickersteth, 

R. ;  Longley,  C.  T. 
Ritual  Commission,   the,   iii.    183, 

186,  210,  211,  213-210,  226,  229, 

239,  240,  241,  242,  266,  297,  300, 

311,338,388,389,  391 
Robins,  Rev.  S.,  i.  84 
Robinson,  Crabb,  i.  136 

—  Mr.,  iii.  371 

Rochester,  Bishop  of.  See  Claugh- 
ton,  T.  L.  ;  Murray,  G. 

'  Rocky  Island,'  the,  allegory  l^y 
Bishop  Wilberforce,  i.  158;  ob- 
jections raised  to,  215,  216 

Roebuck,  Right  Hon.  J.,  ii.  286 

Roman  priest  converted,  iii.  395 

Rose,  Hugh  James,  editor  of 
'  British  Magazine,'  i.  64,  127 

Rosse,  Earl  of,  ii.  244 

Round,  Mr.,  i.  198 

Royal,  H.R.H.  Princess  {see 
Prussia,  Crown  Princess  of)  at 
christening  of  Princess  Louise,  ii. 


1 1  ;  cleverness  of,  280 ;  Confir- 
mation of,  315  ;  wedding  of,  374 

Rucker,  Mr.,  iii.  409 

Russell,  Lord  John,  Earl  Russell, 
sent  for  by  the  Queen,  i.  321  ;  on 
Welsh  Bishoprics,  384  ;  on  Man- 
chester Bishopric  Bill,  385  ; 
remonstrated  with  on  Hamp- 
den's appointment,  433,  434 ; 
letter  to,  442  ;  letter  from,  446  ; 
action  of,  on  Colonial  Church 
Bill,  ii.  192,  193,  196  ;  on  Convo- 
cation, 229  ;  anecdote  of,  238  ; 
on  Secretary  of  State  opening 
letters,  247  ;  Mr.  Denison  on, 
271  ;  Lord  Aberdeen  on,  280, 
348,410-412,415 

Russell,  Lord  Odo,  iii.  248 

Russia,  Emperor  of,  ii.  288,  300 

Rutland,  Duke  of,  i.  396 

Rycroft,  Sir  N.,  iii.  411 

Ryde,  sermon  at,  i.  68 

Ryder,  Bishop  of  Lichfield,  i.  60,  85 

—  Rev.  G.  D.,  i.  68,  85,  102,  362 

—  Mrs.  G.  D..  ii.  13 

—  H.  D.,  i.  27,  31 


SALISBURY,  Bishop  of.      See 
Denison,  E. ;    Hamilton,  W. 
K.  ;  Moberley,  G. 

—  Marchioness  of,  ii.  507 

—  Marquis   of,  iii.    271,    272,  291, 
373,  397,  401,  410,  422 

Salters'  Company,  the,  iii.  272,  273 
.Sandringham,  sermon  at,  iii.  136  ; 

visit  to,  136,  137,  377,  402,  403 
Sandwich  Islands,  the,  iii.  38-40 
Emma,  Queen  of,  visits  Cud- 

desdon,  iii.  170;  Lavington,  171; 

goes  a  tour  in  the  North,  171- 

173 
Sargent,  Caroline,   i.  47  ;  married 
to  Rev.  H.  E.  Manning,  68 

—  H.  M.,  brother  of  Mrs.  S.  Wil- 
berforce, i.  47,  49,  100,  417 

—  J.  G.,  brother  of  Mrs.  S.  Wil- 
berforce, death  of,  i.  49 

—  Rev.  J.,  father  of  Mrs.  S.  Wil- 
berforce, i.  6,  7,  47,  58 


Mrs 


.Grandmother  of  Mrs.    S. 


Wilberforce,  i.  100,  192 
-  Mrs.,  mother  of  Mrs.  S.  Wilber- 
force, daughter  of  Mr.  Abel  Smith, 
i.  6;  described,  100;  lives  with 


472  LXDEX. 

SARGENT 

Bishop  Wilberforce,  192,  309, 
332,  326,  375,  399  ;  ii.  53,  305, 
316,  381,  423  ;  letter  to,  52  ; 
death  of  her  daughter,  Mrs. 
Ryder,  53,  54  ;  Bishop  Wilber- 
force's  affection  for,  53,  315,  319 ; 
illness  of,  348  ;  iii.  17  ;  death  of, 
18  ;  funeral  of,  at  Lavington,  19  ; 
saying  of,  305 

Sargent,  Sophia,  i.  47.  See  Ryder, 
Mrs.  G.  D. 

Sark,  visit  to,  iii.  364 

Saunders,  Dean  of  Peterborough, 

Sawyer,  Mr.  C,  Commissioner  in 

Boyne  Hill  case,  ii.  392 
Scotland,    tour    in,     ii.    329-335  ; 
visits  to,  iii.  68,  69,  303,  381,  397 

Scott,  Lord  H.,  iii.  417 
—  W.,  ii.  421 

Seafield,  Confirmation  at,  iii.  221 

Sebastopol,  ii.  300,  301,  303,  304 

Sedgwick,  Professor,  i.  239,  240 

Self-guidance,  rules  for,  i.  318,  321  ; 
iii.  407 

Sellon,  Miss,  Sisterhood  at  Devon- 
port  founded  by,  iii.  322 

Seiwyn,  Bishop  of  New  Zealand  and 
Lichfield,  consecrated  to  New 
Zealand,  i.  1 96  ;  farewell  sermons, 
203,  211;  speaks  for  S.P.G., 
ii.  248  ;  offered  Bishopric  of  Lich- 
field, iii.  183  ;  at  Pan- Anglican 
Synod,  231,  233;  speech  of,  at 
Keble  College,  246  ;  on  Irish 
Church,  284,  288  ;  at  Fulham, 
370  ;  on  Athanasian  Creed  Com- 
mittee, 401 

Senior,  Mr.,  ii.  319 

Sermons.     See  Oxford 

Shaftesbury,  Earl  of  (see  Ashley, 
Lord),  ii.  230,  231,  249,  276,  374; 
iii.  167,  208,  209,  211,  212,  213, 
225,  319 

Shalstone,  sermon  at,  iii.  51 

Shaw,  Rev.  J.,  accuses  Mr.  West, 
ii-  390,  399.  400 

Sheffield,  speech  at,  iii.  65,  66 

Shenley,  sermon  at,  ii.  418 

Sheridan,  Right  Hon.  R.  B.,  ii.  409 

Sherrington,  sermon  at,  ii.  41 8 

Shiplake,  sermon  at,  iii.  160 

Short,  Bishop  of  Adelaide,  i.  395 

—  Vowler,  Bishop  of  St.  Asaph,  i. 
144,  365 


SPEECHES 

Shottisbrooke,  Confirmation  at,  iii. 

296 
Shrewsbury,  speech  at,  ii.  383 
Shuttleworth,  Bishop  of  Chichester, 

i.  88 

—  Sir  James  K.,  i.  1 1 7,  2 1 2 
Skinner,  Rev.  J.,  ii.  387,  389 
Sibthorp,  Rev.  Mr.,  i.  119;  seces- 
sion of,  to  Rome,  202,  203,  204 

Sickles,  Mr.,  American  Secretary, 

ii.  247 
'  Silence  in   the   Great  Cathedral/ 

lines  by  Dr.  Monsell,  iii.  319 
Simeon,  Rev.  C,  officiates  at  wed- 
ding of    S.  Wilberforce   and  E. 

Sargent,  i.  40  ;  at  Brighstone,  58  ; 

at    Mr.    Sargent's    funeral,   66  ; 

offers   S.    Wilberforce    living   of 

St.  Dunstan's,  70 

—  Sir  R.,  contests  Isle  of  Wight,  i. 
76-78,  80 

Sisterhoods,  letters  to  a  lady  re- 
specting, i.  290 

to   a   clergyman   respecting, 

iii.  330,  331 

—  See  Clewer  ;   Oxford  ;  Wantage 
Slavery,  speech  on,  i.  368 
Smith,  Mrs.  A.,  i.  119 

—  Sidney,  story  of,  i.  203 

—  Vernon,  ii.  195 

—  Mr.  Vance,  iii.  351,  352 
Snow,  Rev.  Mr.,  i.  65,  84 
Society    for    Promoting   Christian 

Knowledge,  i.  97,  109 
the  Propagation  of  the  Gos- 
pel, i.  54,  109,  III,  144-148,  15S, 
159,  240,  248,  284,  342,  390;  ii- 
186,  583,  384,  403  ;  iii.  23,  28,  29, 
33,  34.  92,  145,  147,  167,  170,  176, 
257,  27i,4i7_ 
Somers,  Earl,  ii.  318 
Somerset,  Lady  G.,  iii.  2>77 
Sonning,  Confirmation  at,  iii.  179  ; 

sermon  at,  246 ;  visit  to,  22  5 
Southampton,  sermon  at,  i.  68,  1 1 1  ; 
visits  to,  iii.  380,   381,  404,  405, 
411,418,419 
.Southwark,  sermons  at,  i.  237,  238 
Southwell  Minster,  sermon  at,  iii. 

16 
Spedding,  Mr.,  i.  154 
Speeches  : 

For  Additional  Curates  Society 

iii.  150,  223 
At  anti-slavery  meeting,  i.  160 


INDEX. 


A7: 


SPEECHES 

Speeches: 
At    Bishops'    meetings,    iii.   119, 

193,  288 
On   Bishop    Blomfield's    Bill,  ii. 

41,  42 
At  Brighton,  iii.  93 

—  British  Association  meeting  at 
Oxford,  ii.  450 

For  Central  African  Mission,  ii. 
419,420,  421,  422,  449,  460 

—  Church  and  State,  St.  James's 
Hall,  iii.  247 

At  Clevver,  ii.  381 
For  Hawaian  Mission,  iii.  65,  172 
At  Hull,  for  ragged  schools,  iii. 
260 

—  Industrial  Exhibition,  at  Wil- 
lis's Rooms,  ii.  29 

On  Keble  College,  ii.  246,  345 
At   Leeds,  at  Church  Congress, 
ii.  232 

—  Literary  Fund,  ii.  339 

On  '  London  we  Live  in,'  iii.  145 
At  National  Society,  ii.  1 1 

—  Oxford  Diocesan    Society,    i. 
368  ;    iii.  155 

—  Oxford  Diocesan  Synod,  ii.  57 

—  Reading,  ii.  357  ;  iii.  41,  156 
For  Society  for   Propagation   of 

the  Gospel,  at  Bangor,  iii.  257 
At  Bradford,  ii.  403 
In  Cornwall  and  Devon,  i.  144, 

148 
At  Llandudno,  ii.  384 

—  Manchester,  ii.  347 

—  the  Mansion  House,  i.  159 

—  Oswestry,  ii.  383 
— "Ramsgate,  iii.  182 

—  Shrewsbury,  ii.  383 

—  York,  iii.  9 

—  Society  for  Propagation  of  the 
Gospel's  committee,  iii.  176 

On  .Sunday  schools,  iii.  227,  228 
At  Wargrave   schools'   opening, 

iii.  67 
For   Winchester    Diocesan    So- 
ciety, i.  107,  108 
See     Convocation  ;    House     of 
Lords 
Spencer,  Bishop  of  Madras,  ii.  349 
• —  P3arl,  iii.  380 

Spilsbury,  Confirmation  at,  iii.  220 
Spooner,  Archdeacon,  i.  85,  87  ;  ii 

195 
—  Isaac,  i.  6 


ST.    THOMAS 

Spragge,  Rev.  F.,  tutor  to  S.  Wil- 

berforce,  i.  7 
Spry,  Rev.  Dr.,  ii.  147 
St.Alban's,  Holborn,  visit  to,  iii.  177 
St.  Anne's,  Wandsworth,  iii.  2)7'^ 
St.  Asaph,  Bishop  of.     See  Short, 

Bishop  T.  V. 
St.  David's,  Bishop  of.     See  Thirl- 

wall,  Bishop  C. 
St.    Dunstan's-in-the-West   offered 

to  S.  Wilberforce,  i.  Jo-jT) 

—  sermon  at,  i.  84 

St.   George's,  Camberwell,  sermon 

at,  iii.  343 
St.  Giles',  Confirmation  at,  iii.  17 

—  Camberwell,    Confirmation    at, 

"'•  343 
St.  Helier's,  Confirmation  at,  iii.  363 
St.    James's    Hall,  meeting  at,  iii. 

247,  275,  276 
St.  James's,  Westminster,  sermons 
at,  ii.  319,  449  ;  Confirmation  at, 

St.  John's,  Kennington,  iii.  247,  275 

St.  Leonards,  iii.  371 

St.  Mark's,  Kennington,  Confirma- 
tion at,  iii.  343 

St.  Mary's,  Cambridge,  sermon  at, 
ii.  378 

— ■  Lambeth,  sermon  at,  ii.  271 

Confirmation  at,  iii.  217 

St.  Mary  Magdalene,  Southwark, 
iii.  378,413 

St.  Matthew's,  Brixton,  iii.  379 

—  Denmark  Hill,  Confirmation  at, 

iii.  344 
St.  Oiave,  Southwark,  iii.  431 
St.  Ouen,  catechising  in,  ii.  289 

—  Jersey,  Confirmation  at,  iii.  363  ; 
.     sermon  at,  363 

St.  Pancras,  sermon  at,  ii.  284 

St.  Paul's  Cathedral,  sermon  at,  i. 

84 

—  Knightsbridge,  Confirmation  at, 
ii.  316 

St.  Peter  le   Port,  Guernsey,  Ordi- 
nation and  sermon  at,  iii.  364 
.St.  Saviour's,  Southwark,  iii.  421, 

431 
St.  Simon's,  Jersey,  sermon  at,  iii. 

St.  Stephen's,  Westminster,  sermon 

at,  ii.  340 
St.    Thomas's   Home,  Elson,  Gos 

port,  iii.  336,  ^T,7 


474 


JXDEX. 


ST    VINCENT 


St.  Vincent,  Earl,  ii.  409 

Staley,  Bishop  of  Honolulu,  iii.  41  ; 

letter  to,  57 
Stanhope,  Earl  (Lord    Mahon),  i. 

27,  31,  366  ;    ii.  244,  423,  436  ; 

iii.  215,  216,  217,410 
Stanley,  Dean  of  Westminster,  ii. 

436  ;  iii.  250,  428 

—  Lord,  ii.  414  ;  iii.  250,  300,  351, 
35 -J  373-,  428.  See  Derby,  Earl 
of 

Stanstead  Park,  i.  5 
Stanton,  Rev.  Mr.,  177 

—  Sir  G.,  i.  78 
Sterling  CIuId,  i.  142,  153 

—  Mr.,i.  142,  153 

Stephen,  Right  Hon.  James,  i.  119, 
169,  202  ;    correspondence  with, 
on  Church  Missionary  Bill,ii.  201- 
207 ;    Lord   Aberdeen's   opinion 
of,  412 
Stephens,  Dr.  A.  J.,  iii.  no 
Stewart,  Dr.,  i.  55 
Stirling,  Sir  W.,  visit  to,  ii.  334 
Stockmar,  Baron,  i.   199,  219  ;  ii. 

165,  186,  279 
Stoke,  Confirmation  at,  ii.  423 
Stonehouse,  sermon  at,  i.  146 
Stony  Stratford,  sermon  at,  ii.  418 
.Stopford,  Hon.  Canon,  i.  199 
Stowe,  Mrs.  Beecher,  ii.  187 
Streatham,  sermon  at,  i.  242 
Streatley,  Confirmations  at,  ii.  339  ; 

iii.  296 
Strzlecki,  Count,  ii.  282,  287,  288 
Sugar  Bill,  i.  368,  369-372,  375 
Sumner,  Charles,  iii.  410 
■ —  J.  B.,  Bishop  of  Chester,  Arch- 
bishop of  Canterbury,  Vicar 
of  Mapledurham,  i.  41,  42  ;  Bi- 
shop of  Chester,  43  ;  diocesan 
work  of,  343  ;  letter  as  to  Dr. 
Hampden,  435  ;  consecrates  Dr. 
Hampden,  508  ;  Archbishop  of 
Canterbury,  509  ;  ii.  6  ;  assents 
to  Gorham  judgment,  37  ;  cor- 
respondence with  Bishop  Wil- 
berforce  as  to  Convocation,  141, 
142,  198  ;  in  Convocation,  153  ; 
letter  to,  from  Bishop  Wilberforce, 
163  ;  leaves  Colonial  Church  Bill 
to  Bishop  Wilberforce  to  arrange, 
195,  201;  disapproves  of  attacks 
of'  Record,' 219  ;  as  to  Convoca- 
tion,  229-231,  237  ;   speaks  for 


SUSPENSORY 

S.P.G.,  248  ;  as  to  prolonged 
session  of  Convocation,  268,  269, 
274,  276  ;  discussion  on  Church 
rates,  285  ;  declaration  of,  in 
Denison's  case,  320 ;  decision  of, 
in  Denison's  case,  327  ;  as  to 
Court,  355  ;  discussion  at  S.P.G., 
379,  380  ;  action  of,  as  to 'Essays 
and  Reviews,'  iii.  2,  4,  5,  6,  10  ; 
as  to  Bishopric  of  Honolulu,  39  ; 
death  of,  61  ;  funeral  of,  62 
Sumner,  Mrs.,  wife  of  Bishop  R.  C. 
Sumner,  i.  55,  65 

—  R.  C,  Bishop  of  Winchester, 
regard  for  S.  Wilberforce,  i.  40, 
65,  66 ;  letter  to  S.  Wilberforce, 
70,  yi,  8r,  82  ;  visits  S.  Wilber- 
force, 85  ;  advice  to,  as  to  Leeds 
Vicarage,  103,  104;  receives  visit 
from  S.  Wilberforce,  123,  124  ; 
offers  him  Archdeaconry  of  Sur- 
rey, 1 50  ;  offers  him  Rectory  of 
Alverstoke,  160  ;  attends  funeral 
of  Mrs.  S.  Wilberforce,  181  ;  ad- 
vises S.  Wilberforce  to  accept 
Deanery  of  Westminster,  263, 
264  ;  presides  over  gatherings  at 
Farnham,  281  ;  consecrates  Bi- 
shop Wilberforce,  317  ;  Diocesan 
work,  343  ;  described  by  Bishop 
Wilberforce,  400,  401,  402  ;  on 
improvement  of  Convocation,  ii. 
232  ;  opposition  of  in,  248  ;  with 
Bishop  Wilberforce,  287  ;  as  to 
Court  of  Appeal,  355  ;  at  S.P.G., 
378,  380  ;  action  of,  as  to  '  Es- 
says and  Reviews,'  iii.  2,  4,  5  ; 
possible  succession  of,  to  Arch- 
bishopric, 61  ;  at  Archbishop's 
funeral,  62  ;  at  Winchester,  64  ; 
action  of,  as  to  Dr.  Colenso,  114- 
116;  on  proposed  Ritual  legisla- 
tion, 191,  193  ;  visits  to,  311,  375, 
409 

—  Rev.  Robert,  father  of  Bishop 
Sumner,  i.  82 

Sunday,  observance  of,  i.  2)77  5  i'- 

46 
Sunningdale,  sermon  at,  i.  401 
Surbiton,  iii.  370 
Surrey  Church  Association,  iii.  372, 

386,  394 

—  sermons  in,  i.  283,  284 
Suspensory  Bill,  the,  iii.  275,  2S1, 

289 


lyoEX. 


475 


SUTHERLAND 


TRACTS 


Sutherland,  Duchess  of,  ii.  31 S 

—  Duke  of,  iii.  413 

Swinny,  Rev.  H.  H.,  appointed 
Principal  of  Cuddesdon  College, 
ii.  367  ;  at  Cuddesdon,  446  ; 
letters  to,  iii.  73,  74  ;  death  of, 

74,75 
Symons,  Dr.,  Warden  of  Wadham, 

i-.  235 
Switzerland,  holiday  in,  iii.  92 
Sydney,  Earl,  i.  199-,  iii.  380,  413 
Synodical  declaration  on   '  Essays 

and  Reviews,' iii.  10;  on  Athana- 

sian  Creed,  392 


*  T^ABLE-TURNING,'  letter  on, 
1       ii.  425 

Tait,  A.  C,  Dean  of  Carlisle,  Bishop 
of  London,  Archbishop  of  Can- 
terbury, i.  247  ;  ii.  offered  See  of 
London,  329  ;  sermons  by,  338  ; 
iii.  89 ;  supports  Divorce  Bill, 
ii.  343,  346  ;  alluded  to,  348  ; 
on  Court  of  Final  Appeal,  355, 
356 ;  on  question  of  Missionary 
Bishops,  379,  380  ;  at  Reading 
Mission,  436 ;  on  Convocation, 
438,  441  ;  speaks  in  House  of 
Lords,  448  ;  on  '  Essays  and 
Reviews,'  iii.  2-5,  158;  as  to 
Bishop  of  Honolulu,  38,  39  ;  See 
of  York  offered  to,  64  ;  on  Court 
of  Appeal,  III  ;  onColenso'scase, 
115,  120  ;  action  of,  as  to  Ritual 
legislation,  188,  189,  192,  193  ; 
accepts  See  of  Canterbury,  2*67  ; 
on  Irish  Church,  284-288  ;  con- 
versation with,  292  ;  on  vows, 
335  ;  action  of,  as  to  Athanasian 
Creed,  389,  390,  391  ;  tribute  of, 
to  Bishop  Wilberforce's  memory, 

431 
Tankerville,  Countess  of,  i.  321 
Tavistock,  sermon  at,  i.  148 
Teignmouth,  Lord,  i.  270 
Temple,  Rev.  F.,  Bishop  of  Exeter, 
essay  of,  in '  Essays  and  Reviews,' 
iii.  3,  319  ;    appointed  to  See  of 
Exeter,  319  ;  opposition  to,  319, 
3^0,  339 
Tenby,  visit  to,  ii.  249 
Tennyson,  story  of,  iii.  380 
Thackeray,  W.  M.,  ii.  9 
Theale,  Confirmation  at,  iii.  180 


Thesiger.     See  Chelmsford,  Lord 

Thiers,  M.,  ii.  293  ;   iii.  134,  234,  360 

Thirlwall,  Bishop  of  St.  David's, 
i.  154;  sermon  by,  ii.  249;  Bishop 
Wilberforce's  opinion  of,  250, 
423  ;  at  Bishopstowe,  421  ;  in 
Convocation,  ii.  232,  355,  356, 
380,  441  ;  action  of,  as  to 
'  Essays  and  Reviews,'  iii.  3-5,  9, 
10  ;  as  to  Dr.  Colenso,  115,  116, 
120  ;  on  proposed  Ritual  legis- 
lation, 191  ;  on  Irish  Church, 
284,  288  ;  at  Academy  dinner, 
396 

Thompson,  Rev.  Sir  H.,  i.  47, 
67  ;  ii-  377  ;  letter  from,  on  Pan- 
Anglican  Pastoral,  iii.  231 

Thomson,  Bishop  of  Gloucester, 
Archbishop  of  York,  iii.  17,  no, 
112,  114,  115,  119,  164,  165, 
285-288,383-385,389,413,418 

Thornton,  Henry,  i.  65 

—  Aliss,  letters  to,  on  '  Lothair,'  iii. 
344  ;  on  state  of  France,  366  ; 
on  the  '  Record,'  373  ;  on  Ritual- 
ism, 404;  on  death  of  Rev.  H. 
Venn,  406  ;  on  H.  Wilberforce's 
death,  412 

Thorp,  Archdeacon,  i.  198  ;  letter 
to,  ii.  140,  577 

Thynne,  Lord  John,  i.  118 

Tilehurst,  Confirmation  at,  iii.  180 

'  Times  '  newspaper,  i.  173  ;  ii.  393  ; 
iii.  89,  296  ;  letters  to,  ii.  149  ; 
iii.  89  ;  review,  by  Bishop  Wil- 
berforce,  of  '  Afterglow,'  in,  iii. 
259 

Tithes,  i.  61,  62 

Todd,  Rev.  Dr.,  conversation  with, 
iii.  24-27 

Torquay,  lines  written  at,  ii.  14  ; 
stay  at,  305,  306,  307 

Torrington,  Lord,  iii.  413 

Tour  on  the  Continent,  1827,  i. 
36-39;  1851,  ii.  121-123;  1855, 
289-294 

Tour  in  Devon  and  Cornwall,  1839, 
for  S.P.G.,  i.  144-148 

Wales,  for    S.P.G.,   185S,  ii. 

383-385  ;  iii.  146,  147 

Ireland,  iii.  23-31 

Scotland,  1856,  329-336 

'  Tracts  for  the  Times,'  i.  95,  97, 
103,  130,  141,  153,  193,  207,216, 
217,  292 


476 


IXDEX. 


TRENCH 


Trench,  ISIost  Rev.  R.  C,  Arch- 
bishop of  Dublin,  Consecration 
of  his  church  at  Curdridge,  i.  85  ; 
visits  Brighstone,  121  ;  S.  Wil- 
berforce's  visit  to,  124  ;  friend- 
ship of,  with  S.  Wilberforce,  172  ; 
examining  chaplain  to  Bishop 
Wilberforce,  310;  ii.  316;  ill- 
ness of,  i.  399  ;  lines  by,  on 
'  Alma,'  ii.  303  ;  expected  pro- 
motion of,  319  ;  sermons  by,  341  ; 
sends  news  of  R.  Wilberforce's 
safety,  356  ;  made  Archbishop  of 
Dublin,  lii.  100  ;  Bishop  Wilber- 
force's visit  to,  261,  262  ;  corre- 
spondence with,  on  Irish  Church, 

274,  276,  277,  283  ;  discusses 
Irish  Church,  284-28S  ;  on  work 
in  new  Diocese,  344  ;  on  death  of 
Mrs.  E.  R.  Wilberforce,  369  ;  at 
Bishop  Wilberforce's  funeral,  430 

—  correspondence  of,  with  Bishop 
Wilberforce,  on  Englishman's 
library,  i.  153  ;  on  Archdeaconry 
of  Surrey,  154  ;  on  death  of  Mrs. 
S.  Wilberforce,  189;  on  'Rocky 
Island,'  216  ;  on  Hampden's  case, 
218;  on  Deanery  of  Westminster, 
263  ;    on    Bishopric    of    Oxford, 

275,  312  ;  on  Herbert's  death,  ii. 
315  ;  invitation  to  Cuddesdon,  iii. 
36  ;  on  Ritual  Commission,  226 

—  from  Archdeacon  Randall,  ii.  309 
Trotter,  Captain,  i.  160 

Trower,  Bishop,  i.  31  ;  ii.  366 

Tryon,  General,  letter  to,  on  Con- 
fession, iii.  419,  420 

Tunbridge  Wells  Chapel  offered  to 
S.  Wilberforce,  i.  68,  69 

Turton,  Bishop  of  Ely,  i.  259 

Tyler,  Dr.  J.  Endell,  i.  26 

Tyrell,  Bishop  of  Newcastle  (Aus- 
tralia), i.  395 


UNION,  'The  Bethel,' i.  31 
Union  at  Oxford,  debates  in, 
i.  27-30,  32 

University.     See  Cambridge  ;  Ox- 
ford 

Universities  Mission.     See  Central 
African 

University  sermons.     See   Oxford, 
sermons  at 

Utterton,  Archdeacon,  iii.  370 


VAL  RICHER,  visit  to,  iii.  y:,2„ 
360 
Vale  Church,  Guernsey,  Confirma- 
tion, iii.  364 
Van  de  Weyer,  M.,  ii.  10,  244,  423; 
iii.  238,411 

—  Madame,  iii.  71 
Vane,  Lord  H.,  ii.  318 
Vaughan,  Dr.,  ii.  436  ;  iii.  62 
Venables,  ii.  319 

Venn,  Rev.  H.,  ii.  203,  204,  205  ; 
death  of,  iii.  406 

Verses,  by  Bishop  Wilberforce  : 
Vision  at  Lavington,  i.  186  ;  lines 
at  Torquay,  ii.  14  ;  in  Mrs. 
Ellice's  book,  52  ;  on  Lake  Zug, 
123  ;  to  his  brother  Robert,  252  ; 
'Voice  of  the  Holy  Dead,'  312  ; 
to  Dr.  Monsell,  iii.  32  ;  in 
Princess  of  Wales'  Book,  137 

—  by  Dr.  Monsell,  iii.  31,  320 

—  by  Bishop  of  Derry,  iii.  436-439 
Villiers,  Bishop  of  Durham,  ii.  343, 

350,351,355,356,378,380,  382 

Vincent,  ii.  2)77 

'  Voice  of  the  Holy  Dead,'  by  Bi- 
shop Wilberforce,  ii.  312 

Vows,  perpetual,  iii.  330,  333,  337 

Vyner,  Mr.,  iii.  404 

Vyse,  Rev.  Mr.,  iii.  409 


WALDEGRAVE,  Countess  of, 
ii.  296,  317,  318 

—  Miss,  i.  1 19 
Waldemar,  Count,  i.  398 

Wales,  H.R.H.  Prince  Edward  of, 
iii.  377 

—  H.R.H.    Prince    George  of,  iii. 

377 

—  H.R.H.  the  Prince  of,  i.  175,  202, 
203,  235  ;  ii.  288  ;  iii.  43,  223,  242, 
247,  379,  393  ;  marriage  of,  85- 
88  ;  visit  to,  136,  137  ;  speaks  at 
Academy  dinner,  iii.  222  ;  illness 
of,  387,  38S ;  at  Sandringham, 
403  ;  letter  from,  429 

—  H.R.H.  Princess  of,  marriage  of, 
iii.  85-88;  visit  to.  136;  lines  in 
book,  137;  at  Sandringham,  403  ; 
charm  of,  404 

Walker,  Rev.  R.,  letters  to,  on 
Tract  XC,  i.  262  ;  on  Sunday 
observance,  377  ;  on  Hampden's 
case,  499 


WALL 

Wall,  Mr.,  i.  31 

Wallingford,    Confirmation   at,    ii. 

339 
Walpole,  Right   Hon.  Spencer,  ii. 
195,  421,  422;  iii.  76,  213,  214, 
410 

—  Rev.  T.,  i.  170,  175 
Walter,  Mr.  J.,  iii.  296,  297 
Wantage,  ii.    30,  348,  349  ;  sermon 

at,  8  ;  Sisterhood  at,  iii.  322,  323, 

324 
Ward,  Mr.,  contests  I.  of  Wight,  i. 
79i8o 

—  Mr.  W.  G.,  publishes  '  Ideal  of  a 
Christian  Church,'  i.  245  ;  con- 
demnation of,  246-258,  261 

Wargrave,  speech  at,  iii.  67  ;  ser- 
mon at,  160  ;  Confirmations  at, 
179,296 

Waring,  Confirmation  at,  i.  402 

Waterpark,  Lady,  ii.  12 

Way,  Albert,  i.  5,  7  ;  iii.  396 

—  Miss  Drusilla,  i.  5 

—  Mrs.,  i.  37,  85,  86 

—  Lewis,  i.  4,  5,  6 

Wellesley,  Hon.  G.,  Dean  of  Wind- 
sor, conversation  with,  iii.  268  ; 
letter  to  Bishop  Wilberforce  on 
Lord  High  Almonership,  306  ; 
represents  the  Queen  at  Bishop 
Wilberforce's  funeral,  430 

Wellington,  Arthur,  Duke  of,  i.  87, 
107,321  ;  ii.  9,248,348,410,411, 
412  ;  iii.  413 

—  College,  iii.  71  ;  Confirmation 
at,  297 

Wells  Cathedral,  sermons  at,  ii. 
421 

Welsh  Bishoprics  Bill,  speech  on, 
i.  366 

West,  Rev.  R.  T.,  case  of,  ii.  390- 
400,  404 

West  Wycombe,  Confirmation  at, 
iii.  242 

Westbury,  Lord,  Lord  Chancellor, 
opposes  Missionary  Bishops  Bill, 
iii.  52  ;  attacks  Bishop  Wilber- 
force, 53,  141  ;  letter  to,  on  Court 
of  Appeal,  109 ;  dinner  with, 
121  ;  judgment  of,  in  Dr.  Co- 
lenso'scase,  125,  126  ;  on  'Essays 
and  Reviews,'  iii.  140  ;  attempts 
a  reconciliation,  143,  144 ;  on 
Clergy  Resignation  Bill,  340  ; 
story  of,  401 


INDEX.  477 

WILBERFORCE 

Westbury,  Confirmation  at,  sermori 
ii.  at,  iii.  221 

Westmeath,  Lord,  iii.  187 
Westminster  Abbey,  sermons  at,  i. 
266,  267,  268  ;  iii.  54,  223  ;  chris- 
tening a.t,  246 

—  School,  Confirmations  of,  iii. 
250 

Weston  Underwood,  sermon  at,  ii. 

418 
Whately,   Archbishop    of    Dublin, 

anecdote  of,  ii.  288 
Wheatley,  Confirmation  at,  iii.  14; 

sermon  at,  246 
Whiteside,  Mr.  Justice,  iii.  410 
Wickham,  Mr.  H.,  ii.  402 
Wilberforce,  Rev.  A.  Basil  Orme,^ 
fourth  son  of  Bishop  Wilberforce, 
birth  of,  i.  177  ;  illness  of,  ii.  183; 
iii.   14,   16,    154;  mentioned,  31, 
51,  100,  178,  364,  365  ;  marriage 
of,  173  ;  Prince  of  Wales's  letter 
to,  429 

—  Archdeacon,  Robert  L,  elder 
brother  of  Bishop  Wilber- 
force, i.  7,  26  ;  tutor  at  Oriel, 
41  ;  writes  with  S.  Wilberforce 
the  Life  of  their  father,  74,  84  ; 
death  of  his  wife,  80,  86  ;  second 
marriage  of,  108  ;  preaches  S. 
Wilberforce's  Consecration  ser- 
mon, 315  ;  visit  to  Bishop 
Wilberforce,  ii.  7  ;  lines  to,  by 
Bishop  Wilberforce,  252  ;  seces- 
sion of,  to  Rome,  254-266  ;  iii. 
254  ;  death  of,  ii.  2>yi ,  33^ 

—  letters  to,  on  '  Eikon  Basilike,' 
i.  46  ;  describing  Brighstone,  47  ; 
on  Tunbridge  Wells  Chapel,  68  ; 
S.  Dunstan's-in-the-West,  70  ; 
Spenser's  poems,  75  ;  Newport 
election,  79  ;  Oxford,  86,  87  ; 
sermon  at  Oxford,  88  ;  on  Hamp- 
den, 93  ;  Irvingites,  99  ;  offer  of 
Leeds  Vicarage,  104  ;  schools,, 
117,  380;  justification  by  faith, 
121  ;  Martyrs'  Memorial,  129  ;. 
on  review  of  'Life,'  136  ;  on  sin 
after  Baptism,  153;  on  Mansion 
House  speech,  159;  Alverstoke, 
161  ;  on  Bunsen,  198  ;  on  Isaac 
Williams,  206,  207  ;  Luthcranism, 
212  ;  Claremont,  223  ;  on  Church 
discipline,  230  ;  on  Mr.  Ward's 
case,  247,  248  ;  on   Consecration 


478 


INDEX. 


WILBERFORCE 


WILBERFORCE 


sermon,  313;  on  new  Bishoprics' 
384,  385  ;  on  Hampden's  case, 
430,  494,  496  ;  on  Archdeacon 
Manning-,  ii.  50  ;  on  Gorham,  51  ; 
Lord  J.  Russell,  55  ;  on  Mr.  Ben- 
nett, 66 ;  on  Dr.  Pusey,  72  ;  on 
Real  Presence,  105,  241,  242;  on 
Convocation,  138,  152,  153; 
*  Protection,'  156;  Bishopric  of 
Lincoln,  177,  179  ;  on  Oaths 
Bill,  188  ;  Denison  case,  235, 
236  ;  Cuddesdon  College;  246  ; 
on  the  Archdeacon's  secession, 
254,  255,  257,  261  ;  letter  from, 
263 

—  Blind  School,  meeting  for,  iii.  34 

—  Emily,  wife  of  Bishop  Wil- 
berforce.  {Sec  Sargent,  Emily.) 
Marriage  of,  i.  40 ;  mentioned, 
73>  74,  85,  94,  99»  104,  106,  113, 
121,  123,  159,  162;  n.  251,340; 
iii.  92;  death  of,  i.  177-180; 
funeral  of,  181,  189  ;  anniver- 
saries of  her  death,  184,  187,  191  ; 
Bishop  Wilberforce's  grief  for, 
i.  188,  190,  192,  221  ;  ii.  52  ;  iii. 
17,  181,226,364 

—  Emily  Charlotte,  daughter  of 
Bishop  Wilberforce.  (See  Mrs. 
Pye.)  Birth  of,  i.  50  ;  mentioned, 
188,  375  ;  ii.  12,  121,  122  ;  married 
to  Rev.  H.  Pye,  ii.  122 

■ —  Ernest  Roland,  Bishop  of  New- 
castle, third  son  of  Bishop  Wil- 
berforce, birth  of,  i.  157;  men- 
tioned, 191;  ii.  415,  465;  iii, 
14,  16,  18,  175,  233,  256,  295  ; 
marriage  of,  99  ;  letter  to,  on 
Colenso,  126  ;  letter  to,  from 
Wales,  148 ;  Ordination  of,  iii. 
172  ;  notes  to,  176,  181,  367  ; 
visit  to,  225  ;  letters  to,  on  visit 
taBrighstone  at  Christmas,  238; 
on  Ritual  Commission,  239,  240  ; 
on  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Pye's  secession 
to  Rome,  257,  259 ;  on  Mr.  Glad- 
stone, 271  ;  on  New  Year's  Day, 
294  ;  on  Diocese  of  Winchester, 
311,  367;  on  visit  to  Osborne, 
393 ;  on  birthday,  398  ;  on  Church 
Congress,  401  ;  on  weariness, 
411 

—  Mrs.  Ernest,  illness  of,  iii.  368  ; 
death  of,  369 

—  Henry,   Rev.,  youngest  brother 


of  Bishop  Wilberforce,  i.  157, 
222,  223,  302,  362,  495  ;  ii.  261, 
262,^337,  33S;  iii.  18,  134,  223  ; 
letter  to,  287 

—  Herbert  William,  eldest  son 
of  Bishop  Wilberforce,  born, 
i.  50;  mentioned,  188,221,  329, 
373,  397  ;  illness  of,  ii.  289, 
294,  305  ;  appointed  Lieutenant 
to  H.M.S.  '  Trafalgar,'  298  ; 
letter  to,  from  the  Bishop, 
ii.  298-304  ;  returns  from  Cri- 
mean War,  304 ;  appointed  to 
H.M.S.  'Hawke,'  304  ;  death  of, 
306  ;  funeral  of,  307,  309  ;  his 
father's  grief  for,  307-313,  315, 
317,  338 

Wilberforce   Memorial    Fund,    iii. 

433 

—  Mrs.,  mother  of  Bishop 
Wilberforce,  i.  i  ;  letter  of  S. 
Wilberforce  to,  on  his  theologi- 
cal position,  90  ;  death  of,  400 ; 
funeral  of,  401 

—  Oak,  the,  iii.  57 

—  Reginald  Garton,  second  son  of 
Bishop  Wilberforce,  birth  of,  i. 
113;  in  India,  ii.  338;  anxiety  for, 
349,  356  ;  mentioned,  iii.  17,  18, 
51,  255  ;  Baptism  of  eldest  son 
of,  246  ;  letters  to,  describing 
autumn  at  Lavington,  ii.  357  ; 
Boyne  Hill  case,  395  ;  reception 
at  Cambridge,  422  ;  describing 
work,  iii.  131  ;  describing  visits 
— to  Paris,  133  ;  to  Sandringham, 
137  ;  to  ]\Ir.  Gladstone,  J48  ;  to 
Alnwick,  154;  Diocesan  work, 
i5o»  I59>  160,  174,  178;  on 
Queen  Emma's  visit,  170,  173; 
on  change  of  Ministry,  182  ; 
with  the  Bishop  when  ill,  368  ; 
letter  from  Lord  Granville  to,  424 

—  Mrs.  R.  G.,  letters  to,  from 
Bishop  Wilberforce,  on  Mrs. 
S.  Wilberforce,  i.  180,  191  ; 
marriage  of,  iii.  243  ;  letters  to, 
on  change  of  plans,  y]"]  ;  home 
letter  to,  378  ;  on  tour  in  Scot- 
land, 381  ;  on  Sandringham,  402, 
403  ;  on  death  of  Canon  Best, 
407  ;  on  work  at  Winchester, 
411  ;  last  letter  to,  423 

—  Samuel,  Bishop  of  Oxford  and 
Winchester,   birth   of,  i.  i  ;  pri- 


INDEX. 


479 


WILBERFORCE 


WILBERFORCE 


vately  educated  at  Nuneham  and 
Hastings,  4;  becomes  pupil  of 
Archdeacon  Hodson,  4;  enters 
at  Oriel  College,  Oxford,  26 ; 
debates  at  Oxford  Union,  27 ; 
takes  a  first  class  in  mathematics 
and  second  in  classics,  32  ;  re- 
solves on  entering  Holy  Orders, 
35  ;  travels  abroad,  38  ;  marries 
Emily  Sargent,  40  ;  Ordination 
of  and  appointment  to  Check- 
endon  Curacy,  41  ;  accepts  living 
of  Brighstone,  47  ;  children  of, 
50  ;  parochial  diary  of,  55  ;  work 
of,  at  Brighstone,  57  ;  writes 
tract  on  Tithes,  62  ;  contributes 
to  '  British  Magazine,'  64  ;  pub- 
lishes pamphlet  in  defence  of 
C.M.S.,  64;  also  'Note-book  of 
a  Country  Clergyman,'  64  ;  pub- 
lishes sermon  on  Apostolical 
Ministry,  67  ;  declines  living  of 
St.  Dunstan's,  71  ;  writes  with 
R.  I.  Wilberforce  the  Life  of  their 
father,  74  ;  severe  illness  of,  80  ; 
prepares  H.  Martyn's  letters  and 
journals  for  the  press,  83  ;  ap- 
pointed Rural  Dean,  91  ;  remon- 
strates on  Hampden's  appoint- 
ment to  Divinity  Professorship, 
92,  94  ;  opinions  of,  on  revival  of 
Convocation,  97  ;  interview  of, 
with  Irvingites,  99  ;  refuses 
Leeds  Vicarage,  103  ;  plans  'His- 
tory of  American  Church,'  109  ; 
offered  exchange  to  Leamington, 
114  ;  differs  from  writers  of 
'Tracts  for  the  Times,'  115  ; 
contributions  of,  to  '  British 
Critic'  declined,  125;  publishes 
*  Eucharistica,'  '  Agathos,'  and 
first  volume  of  '  University  Ser- 
mons,' 140  ;  elected  member  of 
Sterling  Club,  142 ;  tour  of,  on 
behalf  of  S.P.G.  in  Devon  and 
Cornwall,  144-149  ;  appointed 
Archdeacon  of  Surrey,  150, 
154-156  ;  letter  of,  to  Lord 
Brougham,  on  Education,  156  ; 
writes  '  Rocky  Island,'  158  ; 
elected  to  Athenaeum,  158;  ap- 
pointed Canon  of  Winchester, 
Rector  of  Alverstokc,  and  Chap- 
lain to  Prince  Albert,  161  ; 
Bampton   Lecturer,    162  ;    work 


of,  at  Alverstoke,  171-176;  death 
of  his  wife,  177  ;  grief  of,  180  ; 
resolutions  of,  184-186  ;  verses 
on  his  wife's  death,  186;  votes 
for  Mr.  Garbett  as  Poetry  Pro- 
fessor at  Oxford,  204  ;  visit  of, 
to  Windsor  Castle,  211  ;  conver- 
sations of,  with  Prince  Albert, 
224  ;  ii.  243  ;  opinion  of,  on 
Disestablishment,  i.  227  ;  on 
Church  Discipline,  230  ;  pub- 
lishes '  History  of  American 
Church,'  235,  260  ;  votes  for  Dr. 
Symons  as  Vice-Chancellor  of 
Oxford,  236  ;  appointed  Sub- 
Almoner,  236  ;  travels  in  goods 
train,  241  ;  votes  for  degradation 
of  Mr.  Ward  and  censure  of 
his  book,  247  ;  accepts  Deanery 
of  Westminster,  258  ;  visits 
the  Queen  at  the  Pavilion 
and  at  Windsor,  259  ;  opinion  of, 
on  Mesmerism,  260 ;  is  in  fa- 
vour of  Maynooth  Grant,  260  ; 
installed  at  Westminster,  266 ; 
edits  '  Memoir  of  a  Maid  of 
Honour,'  267  ;  accepts  Bishop- 
ric of  Oxford,  274,  275  ;  first 
visit  of,  to  Cuddesdon,  309  ;  plans 
of,  as  to  Ordinations,  312  ;  Con- 
secration of,  at  Lambeth,  316  ; 
rules  of,  for  self-guidance,  318- 
321  ;  does  homage  for  tempo- 
ralities, 321  ;  enthronement  of,  in 
Christ  Church  Cathedral,  322  ; 
first  Ordination  held  by,  324  ; 
Ordinations  of,  described,  330- 
339  ;  Diocesan  patronage  of,  351  ; 
almsgiving  of,  354  ;  anecdotes  of, 
356-359;  Ji-  5  ;  ii'-  iij  16,  36,73, 
97-99,  16S,  222,  243,  244,  318; 
in  House  of  Lords,  i.  359:  visit 
of,  to  Osborne  and  Brighstone, 
;^J2,  ;  formed  Oxford  Diocesan 
Society,  381  ;  Confirmations  of, 
described,  392-394  ;  ii.  5  ;  death 
of  his  mother,  i.  400;  signs  re- 
monstrance against  Hampden's 
appointment  to  Bishopric  of 
Hereford,  431  ;  issues  Letters  of 
Request,  453  ;  examines  '  Bamp- 
ton Lectures'  of  Dr.  Hampden, 
463 ;  withdraws  Letters  of  Request, 
471  ;  Diocesan  organisation  of, 
ii.  2  ;  literary  l)rcakfast  given  by, 


48o 


INDEX. 


WILBERFORCE 


7  ;  visit  of,  to  Wantage,  8  ;  re- 
quested to  write  '  Lives  of  Arch- 
bishops of  Canterbury,'  but  re- 
fuses, 28,  29  ;  speaks  of 'dignity 
of  labour,'  30  ;  undertakes  first 
Lent  Mission,  30-34  ;  writes  ar- 
ticles in  '  Quarterly ' — on  '  Dar- 
win, Origin  of  Species,'  449,  451; 
on  '  Life  of  Keble,'  50 ;  iii.  298  ; 
on  'Sandwich  Islands,'  ii.  51; 
on  'Essays  and  Reviews,'  iii.  2, 
13  ;  on  '  Early  Years  of  Prince 
Consort,'  236  ;  on  Hook's  '  Lives 
of  Archbishops   of  Canterbury,' 

259  ;  conversation  of,  on  Court 
of  Appeal,  with  Lord  Brougham, 
ii.  52  ;  holds  meeting  at  Oxford 
against  Papal  aggression,  56,  57  ; 
composes  circular  letter  to  all 
Bishops,  63  ;  controversy  of,  with 
Dr.  Pusey,  70-76  ;  restrains 
Dr.  Pusey  from  public  ministra- 
tions, 82  ;  withdraws  private  in- 
hibition of  Dr.  Pusey,  115  ;  tour 
abroad,  121-124,  224  ;  serious 
illness  of,  121  ;  fresh  efforts  of, 
for  revival  of  Convocation,  136, 
198,  200,  228-230,  267-270  ;  sup- 
ports Mr.  Gladstone  at  the  Ox- 
ford election,  15S,  160  ;  efforts  of, 
to  make  Convocation  a  reality, 
163,  163;  talk  with  Prince  Con- 
sort and  Baron  Stockmar  there- 
on, 165  ;  visits  House  of  Mercy 
at  Clewer,  167  ;  action  of,  on 
Canada  Clergy  Reserves,  178, 
185,  186;  action  of,  on  Colonial 
Church  and  Missionary  Bishops 
Bills,  191,  201  ;  iii.  37-42,  52,  53; 
conversation  of,  with  Dr.  D61- 
linger,  ii.  225  ;  action  of,  as  to 
Ditcher  v.  Denison,  234-242  ; 
conversations  of,  with  Mr.  Bright, 
247  ;  iii.  224  ;  goes  to  Tenby,  ii. 
249  ;  anxieties  as  to  Archdeacon 
Wilberforce,  252-258  ;  sermons 
of,  at  Lavington  described,  259, 

260  ;  grief  of,  at  Archdeacon 
Wilberforce's  secession,  259-266; 
conversation  with  the  Speaker  on 
the  Crimean  War,  271  ;  talks  on 
politics  with  Baron  Stockmar, 
279  ;  conversations  of,  with  Lord 
Aberdeen,  280,  315, 330-333,  409- 
412,  414  ;  opinion  of  Mr.   Glad- 


WILBERFORCE 

stone,  281;  attends  Chapter  of 
the  Garter  for  installation  of 
Emperor  of  the  French,  and  ban- 
quet at  Windsor,  283,  284  ;  re- 
ceives Lord  Aberdeen  at  Laving- 
ton, 286  ;  discusses  Convocation 
and  Church  discipline  with  Bi- 
shop of  London,  287  ;  and  Court 
of  Appeal  with  Mr.  Gladstone 
and  Sir  R.  Phillimore,  288  ;  goes 
abroad  with  his  son  Herbert, 
289  ;  notes  of  French  catechising 
in  St.  Ouen  Cathedral,  289 ; 
talks   with    Mignet   and  Thiers, 

293  ;    evening   at   the   Tuileries, 

294  ;  anxiety  as  to  Herbert, 
295)  297  ;  advice  to  Herbert 
on  self-education,  298  ;  joy 
at  his  return  from  Sebastopol, 
304 ;  takes  him  to  Torquay, 
305  ;  overwhelmed  at  his  death, 
307  ;  resumes  work,  309,  311  ; 
attends  Confirmation  of  Princess 
Royal,  314  ;  anxiety  for  his  re- 
maining children,  315  ;  opinion 
on  declaration  in  case  of  Ditcher 
V.  Denison,  320-327  ;  conversa- 
tion with  Sir  J.  Graham,  330  ; 
visits  to  Gordon  Castle,  335  ;  to 
Hawarden,  335,  336  ;  iii.  257  ;  to 
Bishopstowe,  ii.  336  ;  death  of 
his  brother  Robert,  337  ;  opposes 
Divorce  Bill,  339,  342-347  ; 
refutes  charges  against  Cuddes- 
don  College,  363-373,  415-417  ; 
attends  marriage  of  Princess 
Royal,  374  ;  draws  up  Bill  for 
Special  Services,  375  ;  Convoca- 
tion breakfasts  given  by,  ii.  377  ; 
attends  meeting  at  S.P.G.  for 
appointment  of  Missionary  Bi- 
shops, 378-380;  iii.  131,  176,  177; 
attends  meetings  in  Wales  for 
S.P.G.,ii.  383-385;  corrects  Mr. 
Skinner's  statement  respecting 
Confession,  387-389  ;  appoints  a 
Commission  to  inquire  into  Boyne 
Hill  case,  392  ;  advice  as  to  Eng- 
lish services  abroad,  407  ;  goes 
to  Brougham,  408  ;  to  Haddo, 
409  ;  receives  and  replies  to  ad- 
dresses of  confidence,  416,417; 
work  during  a  week,  418  ;  recep- 
tion of,  at  Oxford,  419  ;  receives 
degree  of  LL.D.  at  Cambridge, 


INDEX. 


481 


WILBERFORCE 


WILBERFORCE 


421  ;  Diocesan  management  of, 
425,  426,  427,  429-434 ;  attends 
Lord  Macaulay's  funeral,  436  ; 
holds  first  Mission  in  Diocese, 
436,  437  ;  holds  Retreat  at  Cud- 
desdon,  446, 447  ;  delivers  his 
Charge  (i860),  461-463;  attends 
Lord  Aberdeen's  funeral,  465  ; 
writes  article  on  '  Essays  and  Re- 
views'  in  'Quarterly,'  iii.  2,  13  ; 
action  of,  z.s\.o  '  Essays  and  Re- 
views,' r,  13  ;  at  Bishops'  Meet- 
ing, 2-6  ;  in  Convocation,  9-1 1, 
12,  22  ;  attends  Duchess  of 
Kent's  funeral,  1 5  ;  anxiety  for 
Mrs.  Sargent,  17  ;  on  Oxford 
election,  19-22  ;  tour  in  Ireland, 
33-31  ;  conversation  with  Dr. 
Todd,  24-27  ;  preaches  to  2000 
workmen,  33  ;  at  Wilberforce 
Blind  School,  34 ;  a  month's 
work,  31-34  ;  attends  Prince 
Consort's  funeral,  43,  44  ;  elected 
to  Philobiblon  Society,  48 ; 
debates  in  House  of  Lords  on 
Lord  Ebury's  motion,  49  ; 
presides  over  Oxford  Church 
Congress,  52  ;  answers  Lord 
Westbury  in  House  of  Lords,  53; 
holds  Retreat  at  Cuddesdon,  55- 
57  ;  writes  review  for  '  Literary 
Churchman,'  57  ;  goes  to  Wales, 
59  ;  on  Archbishop  Longley's 
appointment,  63  ;  goes  to  Scot- 
land, 68  ;  at  Wycombe  Meeting, 
70  ;  consecrates  mausoleum,  72  ; 
portrait  of,  painted,  76  ;  opinion 
of,  on  Hadfield's  Bill,  76-79,  84  ; 
attends  Prince  of  Wales's  mar- 
riage, 85,  88  ;  at  Bishops'  Meet- 
ing, 89  ;  journey  to  Switzerland, 
92  ;  consultation  on  Court  of 
Appeal,  103  ;  at  Bishops'  Meet- 
ing, III,  119  ;  action  of,  as  to  Dr. 
Colenso,  113,  128  ;  holds  Mission 
at  Bampton,  131  ;  visit  to  Paris, 
134  ;  to  Brussels,  135  ;  visit  to 
Sandringham,  136  ;  accident  to, 
when  riding,  137  ;  debate  on 
'  Essays  and  Reviews'  in  Houseof 
Lords,  140  ;  answers  Lord  West- 
bury,  140-143  ;  meeting  with, 
144  ;  journey  to  North  Wales, 
146-149  ;  on  Dissenters,  151  ;  on 
qualifications     of    Clergy,    155  ; 

VOL.  in. 


travels  with  Queen  Emma,  171- 
173  ;  work  in  Convocation,  176, 
177  ;  goes  to  St.  Albans,  Hol- 
born,  177  :  holds  Lent  Mission 
at  Reading,  170-180;  opinions 
of,  on  Ritual  movement,  182, 
203  ;  delivers  Charge  (1866),  199; 
averts  a  Public  Worship  Act, 
205-209 ;  receives  address  from 
Reading,  203,  204 ;  serves  on 
Ritual  Commission,  211,  213, 
218,  239,  240  ;  holds  mission  at 
Chipping  Norton,  220  ;  visit  to 
The  Coppice,  222 ;  revisits 
Brighstone,  226;  gives  address 
on  Sunday  Schools,  227  ;  attends 
Pan-Anghcan  Synod,  230,  231  ; 
draws  up  Encyclical,  231  ;  at- 
tends Church  Congress  at  Wol- 
verhampton, 233  ;  action  of,  as 
to  Irish  Church,  245,  246,  247, 
274-292  ;  at  laying  first  stone  of 
Keble  College,  246 ;  on  union 
with  Eastern  Church,  248 ;  as 
chairman  of  Actionary  Com- 
mittee, 249  ;  grief  of,  at  Mrs. 
Pye's  secession,  255-259  ;  visits 
to  Liverpool,  259  ;  to  Ireland,  for 
Church  Congress,  261-263  5  to 
Knowsley,  264 ;  writes  Review 
of  '  Afterglow,'  in  '  Times,'  259  ; 
on  Archbishop  Longley's  death, 
265  ;  on  Archbishop  Tait's  ap- 
pointment, 267  ;  conversation  of, 
with  Dean  Wellesley,  268,  269  ; 
visits  to  Hatfield,  270,  271  ;  re- 
ceives freedom  of  Salters'  Com- 
pany, 272 ;  speech  on  Church 
and  State,  in  St.  James's  Hall, 
275;  writes  articles  for  'Good 
Words,'  iii.  295,  298,  300,  303  ;  on 
Martin  v.  Mackonochie  judg- 
ment, 298,299;  holds  Lent  Mission 
at  Maidenhead,  295,  296  ;  visits 
Bearwood,  296  ;  on  Bishop  Ha- 
milton's death,  301  ;  revisits 
Checkendon,  302  ;  visits  in  Scot- 
land, 302,  303  ;  at  opening  of  In- 
verness Cathedral,  302 ;  offered 
.See  of  Winchester,  304  ;  resigns 
Lord  High  Almonership,  306, 307; 
takes  leave  of  OxfordDiocese,  307- 
318  ;  attends  Liverpool  Church 
Congress,  310,  311  ;  delivers 
last    Charge,   312-314 ;  receives 


I  I 


482 


INDEX. 


WILBERFORCE 


WOOD 


and  answers  farewell  addresses, 
314-316,  317  ;  begins  work  in 
new  diocese,  317  ;  does  homage 
for  temporalities,  319  ;  enthroned 
in  Winchester  Cathedral,  320  ; 
action  of,  as  to  Sisterhoods,  322- 
337  ;  at  Wantage,  323,  324  ;  at 
Clewer,  324,  325,  329,  330,  332  ; 
St.  Thomas's,  Gosport,  336  ;  vote 
of,  on  Irish  Land  I3ill,  345,  346  ; 
on  revision  of  New  Testament, 
346,  351  ;  on  Westminster  scan- 
dal, 35  r,  352  ;  visit  to  M.  Guizot, 
353-360  :  travels  in  Normandy, 
360,  361,  365  ;  visits  the  Channel 
Islands,  361-365  ;  founds  Hants 
Diocesan  Church  Association, 
370  ;  works  in  Winchester  Dio- 
cese, 374  ;  gives  service  at  Glen- 
garry, 383  ;  course  as  to  Atha- 
nasian  Creed,  389-393  ;  attends 
Church  Congress  at  Leeds,  399  ; 
at  Sandringham,  402  ;  death  of 
his  brother  Henry,  412  ;  visits 
Parham,  414 ;  and  Lavington, 
415  ;  last  utterance  on  Confes- 
sion, 418-420;  last  speech  in 
House  of  Lords,  422  ;  rides  with 
Lord  Granville,  424  ;  death  of, 
424  ;  funeral,  430  ;  tribute  to,  in 
House  of  Lords,  431  ;  Convoca- 
tion, 432  ;  Willis's  Rooms,  433- 
436 

—  William,  father  of  Bishop  Wil- 
berforce,  i.  6,  23,  2,0,  41,  46,  58^ 
66,  149  ;  ii.  178  ;  letters  of  advice 
to  S.  Wilberforce,  i.  8,  9,  10,  12, 
13,  14,  15,  17,  18,  20,  22,  42  ; 
letter  of,  to  Mr.  Sargent,  33 ; 
letter  to,  from  Bishop  C.  Sum- 
ner, 41  ;  letter  to,  from  Bishop 
J.  B.  Sumner,  43 

—  William,  eldest  brother  of  Bishop 
Wilberforce,  i.  i,  2,  362  ;  iii.  134, 

159 

—  Rev.  W.  F.,  son  of  Archdeacon 
R.  Wilberforce,  ii.  122,  266,  309, 
337  ;  iii-  172 

Wilkins,  Archdeacon,  iii.  16 
Wilkinson,  Rev.  Mr.,  Sermon  by,  i. 

102 
Wilks,  Mr.,  iii.  372> 
William,  H.R.H.  Prince  Frederick, 

ii-  374 
Williams,  Mr.  David,  ii.  385 


Williams,  Dr.,  installs  Archdeacon 
S.  Wilberforce  at  Winchester,  i. 
150 

—  Isaac,  proposed  for  Poetry  Pro- 
fessorship at  Oxford,  i.  193,  194, 
204-207,  210,  283 

—  Mr.  Justice,  iii.  401 

—  Rev.  Rowland,  writer  in  '  Essays 
and  Reviews,' iii.  3;  case  of  Bishop 
of  Salisbury  v.,  6-10 

Willis's  Rooms,  speech  at,  ii.  29  ; 
meeting  at,  iii.  380  ;  meetmg  for 
Wilberforce  Memorial  Fund,  433 

Wilson,  Rev.  Daniel,  i.  46 

—  Dean,  ii.  333 

—  Rev.  Mr.,  iii.  369 

—  Rev.  Dr.,  i.  57,  68  ;  ii.  416 

—  Fendall  v.,  case  of,  iii.  6,  8,  9 
Windsor,  visits  to,  ii.  165,  279,  283  ; 

iii.  71,238,  297,  319,  411  ;  Bishop 
invested  as  Chancellor  of  Garter 
at,  i.  342  ;  Prince  Consort's  fune- 
ral at,  iii.  43  ;  Prince  of  Wales' 
marriage  at,  85-88  ;  sermons  at, 
88,  221,  297  ;  Confirmation  at, 
180 
Winchester  House,  iii.  379 

—  speech  at,  i.  107 

—  Bishop  of.  See  Sumner,  R.  C. ; 
Wilberforce,  Bishop. 

—  Bishopric  of.  Diocese  of,  See 
of,  iii.  292, 293,  304,  306,  307,  30S, 
312,317,339,343 

—  Cathedral  of,  iii.  320 ;  Ordina- 
tion at,  370  ;  visit  to,  401  ;  offer 
of  public  funeral  in,  428 

Winchelsea,  Earl  of,  i.  45 
Wing,  Confirmation  at,  ii.  418 
Wiseman,  Cardinal,  i.  298  ;  ii.  54  ; 

iii.  249 
Woburn,  Confirmation  at,  iii.  241  ; 

sermon  at,  ii.  15 
Wokingham,    Confirmation   at,  iii. 

22  r  ;  sermon  at,  179 
Wolston,  Great,  sermon  at,  ii.  418 
Wolverhampton,  Church  Congress 

at,  iii.  232 
Wolverton,  sermons  at,  ii.  418 
Wonham  Manor,  iii.  396 
Wood,  Mr.  Samuel,  i.  96 

—  Hon.  C.  J.,  iii.    136,   178,   429, 

430 

—  Sir  W.  Page  {sec  Hatherley, 
Lord),  on  '  Essays  and  Reviews,' 
iii.  6 


INDEX. 


483 


WOODGATE 


Woodgate,  Mr.,  ii.  ■};]'] 

Woodford,  J.  R.,  Bishop  of  Ely, 
letter  of,  on  Bishop  Wilberforce's 
Ordinations,  i.  330 ;  sermons  by, 
iii.  23,  43,  179,  225,  363  ;  recol- 
lections of,  44 ;  visit  to,  304 ;  with 
Bishop  Wilberforce,  345  ;  goes 
with  Bishop  Wilberforce  to 
Channel  Islands,  353-365  ;  re- 
collections of,  375  ;  with  Bishop 
Wilberforce,  379,  381,  394;  speeh 
of,  at  Leeds,  400,  401  ;  with  Bi- 
shop Wilberforce,  404,  410,  416  ; 
pall-bearer  at  his  funeral,  430 

Woodstock,  Confirmation  at,  iii. 
221 

Woolsthorpe,  sermon  at,  i.  395,  396, 

397 

Wooton,  Confirmation  at,  iii.  221 

Worcester,  Bishop  of.  See  Pepys, 
H.;  Philpott 

Wordsworth,  Chr.,  Bishop  of  Lin- 
coln 

Wrangham,  Mr.  Serjeant,  i.  28 


ZUG 


Wrexham,  sermon  at,  ii.  383 
Wroxton,  Confirmation  at,  iii.  15 
Wycombe,  Confirmation  at,  iii.  242 

meeting  at,  70 
Wynn,  Sir  W.  W.,  ii.  383 
Wynter,  Canon,  iii.  409 
—  Dr.,  i.  228 


YONGE,  Mrs.,  i.  146 
York,   Archbishop    of.      See 
Harcourt ;  Longley;  Musgrave  ; 
Thompson 

—  meetings  at,  sermons  at,  iii.  33, 
92,  153,  154,  172 

—  Dean  of.  See  Duncombe,  Hon.  A. 


ZOUCHE,  Lord.     See    Curzon, 
Hon.  R.,  iii.  414 
Zug,  Lake  of,  lines  written  on,  ii. 
123 


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